Tonawanda Man Indicted On Drug Charge

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 indictment charging Michael Elder, 36, of Tonawanda, NY, with possession with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine and fentanyl, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum of 40 years, and a $5,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joel L. Violanti, who is handling the case, stated that according to the indictment, on November 3, 2016, the United States Probation Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration executed a search warrant at the defendant’s residence at 143 Edgewood Avenue in Tonawanda, NY. Officers recovered crack cocaine and fentanyl. The defendant was on parole for a previous federal conviction.

The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and is being detained.

The indictment is the culmination of an investigation on the part of the United States Probation Department, under the direction of Chief Probation Officer Anthony SanGiacomo, and Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent- in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Division.

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.

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