DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

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

For Immediate Release

Thursday, July 16, 2015
William J. Hochul, Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Schuele Boys Gang Drug Supplier Arrested at the Texas-Mexico Border

 

BUFFALO, N.Y.-U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. announced today that Julio Contreras, 31, of McAllen, Texas, who was named in a 15 count superseding indictment involving the Schuele Boys Gang, has been arrested by federal law enforcement officers at the Anzalduas Port of Entry in Mission, Texas as he attempted to return to the United States from Mexico. The defendant is charged with racketeering conspiracy, narcotics conspiracy and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

 

U.S. Attorney Hochul made the announcement at the Delavan Grider Community Center, located in the immediate area where the gang’s activities were conducted. The U.S. Attorney spoke to students attending summer camp at the community center, as well as senior citizens. He stated that Buffalo residents are entitled to a safe and healthy environment, and urged the public to continue to report any indications of criminal activity.

 

Students also heard from a former Schuele Boys Gang associate who was convicted in this case. He shared his experience in the criminal justice system and urged the students to make good, positive choices in their lives.  

 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang, who is handling the latest Schuele Boys case, stated that according to the superseding indictment, Contreras was the main source of supply of cocaine for the Schuele Boys Gang in Buffalo. The gang operated in the Schuele Avenue area of the East Side of Buffalo and is alleged to be responsible for multiple acts of violence and the distribution of illegal narcotics including cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana.

 

The Government alleges that Contreras supplied the Schuele Boys with upwards of $1,000,000 of cocaine on a monthly basis. In addition, the defendant purchased and built assault rifles in Texas that he then sold or traded to Mexican sources in exchange for cocaine. Contreras traveled to Buffalo on multiple occasions to meet with co-defendants Aaron Hicks and Letorrance Travis. On December 18, 2010, Hicks and the defendant were arrested by police outside a residence belonging to Travis on Courtland Avenue. 

 

A total of 28 defendants have been charged in the case, nine defendants having been convicted to date.  

 

The superseding indictment is the culmination of an investigation by Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of James J. Hunt, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division,  the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto, the Erie County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard, the Edinboro, Pennsylvania Police Department, under the direction of Chief Jeff Craft, and the Edinboro University Police Department, under the direction of Chief Angela Vincent. Additional assistance was provided by FBI Offices in Texas and Mississippi and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement–Homeland Security Investigations Offices in Texas. The Buffalo FBI Safe Streets Task Force includes the Amherst Police Department; Buffalo Police Department; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; Erie County Sheriff’s Office; Hamburg Police Department; Niagara Frontier Transportation Authority; New York State Department of Correctional Services; New York State Police; and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement–Homeland Security Investigations.

 

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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New York Field Division