Defendant Who Violated Diversion Program for Pending Felony Drug Charge Sentenced for Selling Cocaine to Undercover Cop

Modified: April 16, 2021 4:04pm

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4/16/2021

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 27-year-old Marquelle D. Miller of Buffalo was sentenced this afternoon by State Supreme Court Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek to a determinate sentence of 3 years in prison followed by 2 years of post-release supervision.

The defendant admitted to selling a quantity of cocaine on two separate occasions. On July 16, 2020, at approximately 4:11 p.m., the defendant sold cocaine to an undercover officer. He sold cocaine to an undercover officer again at the same location on July 22, 2020. The defendant committed these crimes while pending sentence in a separate drug-related case.

Miller pleaded guilty two counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree (Class “B” felonies) on February 5, 2021. The defendant pleaded guilty to the highest sustainable charges in the indictment against him.

Miller was also pending sentenced in a separate drug case. He pleaded guilty to one count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree (Class “C” felony) on October 17, 2019. He admitted to possessing a quantity of cocaine during an arrest on LaSalle and Bailey Avenues on June 11, 2019. The defendant claimed to suffer from a drug addiction. Justice Wojtaszek ordered the defendant to complete a judicial diversion program prior to sentencing, which he violated by being arrested in the July 2020. The defendant was sentenced today on this case to a determinate sentence of 3 years in prison, which he will serve concurrent to his sentence in the most recent case.

DA Flynn commends the Buffalo Police Department and the Lackawanna Police Department Narcotics Unit for their work in the investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Frank A. Strano of the DA’s Narcotics Bureau and Assistant District Attorney Louis C. Mussari of the DA’s Felony Trials Bureau.