Buffalo Man Going To Prison For 10 Years For His Role in Drug Trafficking Organization

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Quinton Jones, 40, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, five kilograms or more of cocaine, was sentenced to serve 120 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura A. Higgins, who handled the case, stated that between November 2016 and September 29, 2017, the defendant conspired with others to distribute cocaine in the South Buffalo area for a drug trafficking organization led by co-defendant Cesar Rivera-Figueroa. In August of 2017, the defendant received a kilogram of cocaine from one of his co-defendants. On August 18, 2018, Jones made a payment of approximately $30,000 for the kilogram.

On September 13, 2017, the drug trafficking organization received several parcels containing cocaine through the U.S. Postal Service. Upon receipt, another co-defendant contacted the defendant to arrange for the defendant to pick up a kilogram and distribute it in the Buffalo area. On his way to collect the kilogram of cocaine, Jones was stopped by a marked Erie County Sheriff’s vehicle, and law enforcement found him in possession of $19,995 in U.S. currency.

Over the course of the defendant’s involvement in the conspiracy, Jones regularly distributed at least one kilogram of cocaine per month on behalf of the drug trafficking organization.

On September 29, 2017, the defendant was arrested inside his residence at 57 Juniata Street in Buffalo. A search warrant was executed and investigators recovered $4,023 in U.S. currency; a .22 caliber rifle with a defaced serial number; multiple rounds of ammunition; and a quantity of cocaine.

Jones is one of 12 defendants convicted in this case and the fourth to be sentenced.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; and the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Edward Kennedy.