Buffalo Man Indicted For Selling Deadly “Heroin” Mixture That Resulted In Two Deaths

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an eight-count indictment charging Aaron J. McDuffie, aka “G”, 22, of Buffalo, NY, with possessing with intent to distribute and distributing quantities of heroin, fentanyl, butyryl fentanyl, and furanyl fentanyl, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. Notably, two of the distribution counts against the defendant allege that defendant’s drug sales resulted in serious bodily injury and death to two of his customers who overdosed and died from the drugs that McDuffie sold them. The drug charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $1,000,000 fine, while the firearm charge brings with it a mandatory consecutive term of five years in prison.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment and a previously filed complaint, on June 27, 2015, at approximately 10:08 p.m., the Cheektowaga Police and the Forks Volunteer Fire Company responded to a possible drug overdose at an address in Cheektowaga. That individual, identified as A.E.,   eventually died of acute combined butyryl fentanyl and morphine intoxication. A search of A.E.’s cell phone helped to identify defendant as the person who sold him the drugs on the night he overdosed. Further investigation by investigators from the Cheektowaga Police Department revealed that defendant changed his telephone number following the overdose death as defendant had admitted to another customer that he had given A.E. some highly potent heroin and that he warned A.E. not to use as much.

In late November of 2016, the West Seneca Police responded to an overdose death of an individual identified as D.M. in their jurisdiction. Subsequent investigation conducted by the West Seneca Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration eventually identified the defendant as the individual who, on November 23, 2016, distributed the fatal mixture of fentanyl, butyryl fentanyl, and furanyl fentanyl to D.M.

“Since 1975, approximately 5,000 Americans have been killed by terrorists,” said Acting U.S. Attorney James. P. Kennedy, Jr. “In 2015 alone, more than 10 times that number of Americans—over 50,000—died of drug overdoses, and that number is on the rise. As prosecutors, we took an oath to enforce the law and protect society. From doctors and healthcare professionals who violate their oath by prescribing these poisons without a legitimate medical purpose, to street-level distributors, such as McDuffie, who are out to make a few bucks on the lives of others, this Office remains resolute in our effort to do all that we can to bring these law-breakers to justice and to eliminate the threat they present.”

DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt stated: "Indictments and arrests cannot erase the result of fatal overdoes, but they do send a succinct message to traffickers that the consequences of their actions will be accounted for and they shall be brought to justice.  DEA will continue to focus our resources on targeting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations pushing lethal combinations of heroin and fentanyl onto our streets and into addicts’ hands.”

On November 30, 2016, defendant was arrested on a federal criminal complaint and a search warrant was executed at his Buffalo residence. Defendant has remained in custody since November 30th. The defendant was arraigned this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, and he continues to be detained.       

The indictment is result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Special Agent-in-Charge, New York Field Division; Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief David Zack; and the West Seneca Police Department, under the direction of  Chief Daniel Denz.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.