Jamestown Man Pleads Guilty To Cocaine Charge

BUFFALO, N.Y. — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Jeffrey Guzman Suarez, 30, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to attempting to possess cocaine with the intent to distribute it. The charge carries carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1,000,000 fine. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Antoine, who is handling the case, stated that on October 2, 2019, during a review of outgoing mail, US Postal Inspectors were alerted to a suspicious parcel sent from Puerto Rico and addressed to the defendant. A Niagara Frontier Transit Detection K9 was brought in and gave a positive alert, indicating the presence of narcotics. During the execution of a search warrant on the package, inspectors discovered, concealed inside a small portable charcoal grill, an off-white chunky substance in brick form wrapped in multiple layers of plastic wrap, food storage bags, and cleaning wipes. The substance field tested positive for cocaine. On October 11, 2019, the defendant went to the Jamestown Postal Office and accepted the parcel which had been replaced with “sham” cocaine. As he attempted to exit the postal office, Suarez was arrested and taken into custody.

The plea is the result of an investigation by the United State Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Joshua McCallister, Acting Inspector-in-Charge, Boston Division, and the Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority, under the direction of Chief George Gast. 

Sentencing is scheduled for August 30, 2021, at 3:00 p.m. before Judge Wolford.