Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita, III announces that 41 year-old Salujia Sylvester of 334 French Street in the City of Buffalo pleaded guilty to five counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance and one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance with Intent to Sell before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth Case.  These were the highest charges for which the defendant could have been convicted. In other words, Sylvester was prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

Sylvester was operating a black market pharmacy in the heart of the downtown Buffalo business district.  While under the watchful gaze of the Soldiers and Sailors Monument in Lafayette Square, Sylvester peddled his wares to an undercover officer on the corner of Main and Court Streets.  He made five separate sales to the officer and sold a plethora of pills and poison– including Alprazolam (Xanax), Buprenorphine (Suboxone), Hydrocodone with Acetaminophen (Vicodin), and cocaine.

Once arrested, Sylvester wished to make clear that he was a dealer with standards: He only dealt drugs to adults, not children. Sylvester also chided the Buffalo Police Narcotics Squad for arresting him, emphasizing the community would be better served if the police focused on murderers and child molesters and left the drug dealers alone.

Sylvester faces a maximum of nine (9) years when he is sentenced before Judge Case on February 17, 2015 at 2:00PM.

The case was successfully prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney John P. Gerken, Jr., who is assigned to DA Sedita’s Felony Trial Bureau.