Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that: 

25-year-old Marcellus Hutcherson of 211 Weston St. in the City of Buffalo pleaded guilty before New York State Supreme Justice Christopher J. Burns to three counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.  Hutcherson sold fentanyl to an undercover narcotics officer on four separate dates between February 1^st and February 16^th of 2017. 

28-year-old Stanley Wallace of 266 Roslyn Ave. in the City of Buffalo pleaded guilty before Erie County Justice Michael F. Pietruszka to multiple narcotics related crimes.  Wallace pleaded guilty to three counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree for his criminal conduct of selling fentanyl to an undercover officer on three separate dates between April 3^rd and May 3^rd of 2017.  Wallace also pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree for a separate incident which occurred on October 8, 2016, on Bailey Ave. in the City of Buffalo.  On that date, Strikeforce Officers from the Buffalo Police Department caught Wallace in possession of greater than ½ ounce of heroin. 

Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid or painkiller. It’s about 100 times more powerful than morphine, and between 30-50 times more powerful than heroin.  It’s also a driving force behind a sweeping drug epidemic, which has caused the number of opioid related deaths to spike in Erie County and across the nation.  Fentanyl is often used to cut heroin without buyers’ knowledge, resulting in lethal consequences.

Hutcherson and Wallace are currently in jail.  Both face long state prison terms. Wallace will be sentenced by Justice Burns on August 30^th at 9:30 a.m. and Hutcherson will be sentenced by Justice Burns on September 11^th at 9:30 a.m.

DA Flynn commends Detective Bart Adams and Officers Michael Acquino and Bradford Pitts of the Buffalo Police Department and Detectives Robert Laskowski and Michael Pilat of the Cheektowaga Police Department for their thorough investigations.

Assistant District Attorney Justin T. Wallens of the DA’s Narcotics Unit prosecuted the cases.