Troy Man Pleads Guilty to Drug and Gun Crimes

 ALBANY, NEW YORK – Jean Luis Colon, age 23, of Troy, New York, pled guilty today to possessing and intending to distribute heroin, and to possessing a firearm with an altered serial number.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and Ray Donovan, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Field Division.

Colon admitted that he possessed approximately 2,050 small bags of heroin that he intended to sell, which law enforcement seized when they executed a search warrant on his residence on August 21, 2020.  Some of the heroin bags were stamped with the words “Corona Virus,” according to a criminal complaint previously filed in the case.  Colon also admitted to possessing a .38 caliber Smith and Wesson revolver with a scratched serial number. 

Colon, who has been in custody since his arrest on August 21, faces up to 25 years in prison, and at least 3 years of post-imprisonment supervised release, when Chief United States District Judge Glenn T. Suddaby sentences him on April 22, 2021.  A defendant’s sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

This prosecution was the result of a joint investigation by the DEA, Troy Police Department, the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit, and the Rensselaer County Sheriff’s Office, and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Barnett with assistance from the Rensselaer County District Attorney's Office.