Trending
A Jamestown man is facing methamphetamine charges.
U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced Wednesday that Koran Leeper, 54, was charged by criminal complaint with possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, which carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum of life.
According to the complaint, on April 30, Jamestown Police officers conducted a traffic stop of a vehicle Leeper was riding in. During the stop, the officers observed an unusual amount of a crystal-like substance on Leeper's chest and legs. When questioned about it by one of the officers, Leeper stated it was cigarette ash.
However, the officer did not believe that the substance was fully cigarette ash, but instead an illegal drug. Officers attempted to search the vehicle, but the driver declined. Officers did observe what they believed to be loose crack cocaine on the driver's seat and the passenger's seat in plain view. Officers also observed the corner of a ripped off baggie containing a white powdery residue. Believing that the driver and Leeper were in possession of controlled substances, officers conducted a search of the vehicle and located a clear container with the residue of a white powdery substance, as well as a glass smoking device. The driver and Leeper were taken into custody. Officers then located a plastic bag containing a large amount of a crystal-like substance in Leeper's left pocket and a plastic bag containing a white powder-like substance in his right pocket.
Leeper made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah J. McCarthy and was detained.
This investigation was part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Buffalo comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI, ATF, IRS Criminal Investigations, Department of Homeland Security Emergency Removal Operations, Customs and Border Protection, the DEA, the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Secret Service, and the Diplomatic Security Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of New York.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti. The complaint is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Farhana Islam, New York Field Division and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Scott Forster.
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.