News Release [print-friendly version]
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 7, 2008

Drug Trafficker Found Guilty
Faces Mandatory Sentence of Life Imprisonment

MAY 7 -- (Plattsburgh, NY) JOHN P. GILBRIDE, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Office of the United States, Drug Enforcement Administration ("DEA") and United States Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby announced that on Friday, May 2, 2008, Terry Joe Murray, 50, of Ogdensburg, New York, was found guilty, after a jury trial in United States District Court in Syracuse, of operating a drug conspiracy in St. Lawrence County, New York during 2006. Murray was accused by a superseding indictment of being one of six people who were involved in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine powder and “crack” cocaine in 2006. Murray, who has three prior felony convictions, was found by the jury to have distributed or possessed with intent to distribute, in excess of fifty (50) grams of crack cocaine and in excess of five (5) kilograms of powder cocaine. The evidence at trial showed that Murray was obtaining cocaine in Syracuse and Rochester and then distributing it to customers and other dealers in St. Lawrence County.

DEA Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride stated, “The results of this trial exemplify that law enforcement and the families that comprise our communities will not tolerate drug trafficking by any means. With our coordinated focus on identifying and arresting those who profit from the sale of illegal narcotics we are making our neighborhoods safer from the perils of drug abuse.”

Five co-defendants previously pled guilty to the narcotics conspiracy. Murray faces the possibility of a sentence of life imprisonment at sentencing on September 29, 2008. U.S. Attorney Suddaby noted the active participation in this case by the St. Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office under the leadership of District Attorney Nicole Duvé. The investigation which led to the criminal case against Terry Joe Murray was jointly conducted by the DEA Resident Office in Plattsburgh, New York and the St. Lawrence County Drug Task Force, which consists of the DEA, St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Department, and the police departments from Ogdensburg, Canton, Massena, Potsdam, and Gouverneur.

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