Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Farmington Man Going to Prison on Gun and Drug Charges Following Traffic Stop on School Campus
ROCHESTER, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Benyadiel Merced, 21, of Farmington, NY, who was convicted of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance and being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of ammunition, was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Cassie Kocher, who handled the case, stated that on December 9, 2021, Merced was driving a vehicle on the Victor Central School campus when he was stopped by police. At the time of the stop, Merced possessed a loaded ghost gun. Merced also possessed 16 baggies of marijuana secreted in a compartment behind the vehicle’s radio. Merced admitted that at the time that he was an unlawful user of marijuana and was therefore prohibited from possessing the ammunition.
The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Sheriff Philip Povero and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito.