Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Jamestown Man Pleads Guilty to Selling Meth
BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Richard S. Dean, 44, of Jamestown, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing 500 grams of methamphetamine. The charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life in prison, and a fine of $10,000,000.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant was a drug trafficking associate of co-defendant Douglas Beardsley. During the conspiracy, Dean would go over to Beardsley’s residences on Linden and Forest Avenues in Jamestown several times a week and pick up ounces of methamphetamine and grams of heroin to sell for Beardsley. At times, Beardsley would “front” the narcotics to the defendant to sell. Dean and Beardsley would often communicate about their drug trafficking, including through their Facebook accounts.
On January 6, 2019, local law enforcement observed a suspicious male, later identified as the defendant. Dean became evasive and ran from officers. Shortly thereafter, the defendant was taken into custody and arrested on an outstanding warrant. Dean was transported to the Jamestown City jail where a subsequent search revealed that he possessed methamphetamine, heroin, plastic baggies, a digital scale, and Dimethyl Sulfone, a common cutting agent for methamphetamine. On March 21, 2019, the defendant pleaded guilty in Chautauqua County Court to Criminal Possession Controlled Substance-5th: Intent To Sell and Criminal Sale Controlled Substance-5th Degree.
Charges remain pending against Douglas Beardsley. 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.
The federal plea is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division; and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Acting Chief Timothy Jackson. Sentencing is scheduled for November 23, 2020, at 12:30 p.m. before Judge Arcara.
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