Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 53-year-old Jerry Bonilla of Buffalo has been sentenced by Erie County Court Judge James Bargnesi to a determinate sentence of 10 years in prison followed by 5 years of post-release supervision.

On June 8, 2018, narcotics officers from the Buffalo Police Department and New York State Police conducted surveillance of defendant at his residence on Dempster Street in Buffalo. They observed the defendant retrieve something from inside a parked red Volvo before travelling to a garage on Prospect Avenue. Before entering the garage, police observed the defendant make what appeared to be several hand-to-hand drug transactions with individuals in the vicinity.

A search of the garage turned up 150 small bags containing heroin and fentanyl, all labeled “The Best.” A subsequent search of the red Volvo turned up approximately 8,000 more bags containing heroin and fentanyl, also labeled “The Best.”

On March 21, 2019, Bonilla pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a Class “A” felony.

Bonilla, who has six prior felony narcotics convictions, was sentenced today as a second felony offender.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department and the New York State Police for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James W. Mansour, II of the DA’s Narcotics Bureau and Chief Justin Wallens of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau.