DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of New York

For Immediate Release

Thursday, January 9, 2014
William J. Hochul, Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Rochester Gang Member Sentenced On Gun And Drug Charges

ROCHESTER, N.Y.—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Anthony Kellum, a/k/a Nitti, 26, of Rochester, N.Y., who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 28 grams or more of cocaine base, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a federal drug trafficking crime, was sentenced to 147 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci, Jr. Kellum was also ordered to forfeit two firearms and rounds of ammunition seized during the investigation.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Marangola, who handled the case, stated that Kellum and other members of a Rochester gang known as “Coke City” were involved in obtaining large quantities of powder cocaine. The defendant and other gang members then processed the powder into crack cocaine and then sold it from various locations on the West Side of Rochester. Kellum and other Coke City members routinely possessed firearms for protection in connection with their crack cocaine distribution.

The defendant was arrested June 13, 2013 after officers executed a search warrant at his residence, an apartment at 35 Stratford Park in Rochester. The search netted 21 bags of crack cocaine, 231 grams of powder cocaine, a loaded .40 caliber rifle, a stolen and loaded .45 caliber pistol, scales, baggies, and other paraphernalia for processing and distributing crack cocaine.

Kellum was one of five defendants arrested in this case. All five have been convicted.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of investigators with the Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Michael Ciminelli, Special Agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Resident Agent in Charge Scott Heagney, and the Monroe County District Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Sandra Doorley.

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New York Field Division