STAFF REPORTS
BUFFALO — U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Rohan Chopra, 23, of Amherst, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, MDMA, also known as “Molly,” was sentenced to 24 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Astorga, who handled the case, stated that the defendant conspired with co-defendants Connor Dempsey and Joel Jacob. All three defendants agreed that Chopra would store various controlled substances at an apartment rented by Dempsey and Jacob that was located at 365 Campus Drive in Buffalo. Chopra was also allowed to sell drugs out of the apartment. Dempsey and Jacob gave Chopra keys to the apartment so that he could access and distribute the drugs stored there. Chopra also ordered controlled substances from the Internet and had them delivered to the apartment. Chopra instructed Dempsey and Jacob not to sign for packages and to deny that they were expecting a package to avoid liability.
On August 17, 2016, Jacob signed for a parcel addressed to him during a controlled delivery by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service. The package, which Chopra ordered over the Internet using bitcoins, was sent from Munchen, Germany and contained over 180 grams of MDMA. During a search of the apartment, officers recovered quantities of marijuana, LSD, cocaine, THC, Xanax, and ketamine. They also found a digital scale, baggies, empty capsules, other drug paraphernalia, and another mail parcel addressed to Chopra. After Chopra learned about the search, he contacted Dempsey and Jacob and asked them to take responsibility for a quantity of the controlled substances found in the apartment.
Dempsey and Jacob have been convicted and sentenced.
Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, under the direction of Inspector-in-Charge Ray Moss of the Boston Division.
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