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By The Post-Journal Staff
editorial@post-journal.com
A Jamestown man who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute -- and to distribute -- 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and being a felon in possession of firearms, was sentenced to serve more than 14 years in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara in Buffalo.
U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced the sentencing on Wednesday for Douglas Beardsley, 38. The mandatory minimum for the charges is 10 years in jail.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who handled the case, stated that between September 2018 and January 2019, Beardsley bought, sold, and distributed heroin and methamphetamine for profit in the Jamestown area, utilizing several co-conspirators, associates, and runners as well as Facebook and various electronic devices to operate his drug trafficking activities.
Beardsley also distributed large amounts of methamphetamine to numerous other individuals in the Jamestown area. During the conspiracy, Beardsley used residences on Linden and Forest avenues in Jamestown for drug trafficking. In January 2019, investigators executed a search warrant at the Forest Avenue residence, recovering two firearms, ammunition, $296 in cash, quantities of crystal methamphetamine, a digital scale, and other drug paraphernalia. Officers also seized 27 prepaid credit cards; three cell phones; seven live rounds of ammunition; nine spent shell casings; several packaging baggies; two calibration weights; and a case of SD cards. Subsequent investigation determined that two of the firearms recovered were stolen from a residence in town of Ellicott in January 2019.
Throughout the conspiracy, Beardsley obtained approximately $112,000 in monetary proceeds from drug trafficking.
Beardsley had previously been convicted of three felonies, including first-degree aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, third-degree attempted burglary and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and is legally prohibited from possessing a firearm. Beardsley had also been charged in 2017 with second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, first-degree menacing, reckless endangerment, fourth-degree criminal possession of a weapon and fourth-degree criminal mischief after police reported he and another man entered a home on Barrett avenue and fired several shots while five people, including 4- and 2-year-old children, were inside the home.
The conviction and sentencing is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces operation. The force identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.
One of those charged as part of the drug ring, Chelsey Hunt, was sentenced to three years probation in 2021. Evan Motherwell, 25, of Penfield and formerly of Jamestown, pleaded guilty to conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 500 grams or more of methamphetamine in August 2021. Co-defendants -- Tracey Wynn, Richard Dean, Daniel Harding and Justin Cusimano -- were previously convicted as well.
The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Jamestown Police Department and the Jamestown Metro Drug Task Force, under the direction of Jamestown Police Chief Timothy Jackson; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Frank A. Tarentino III, New York Field Division; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito, New York Field Division, and the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff James Quattrone.