Richard S. Dean, Methamphetamine Distribution, New York 2019

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A Jamestown man has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in a methamphetamine distribution ring in New York in 2019, according to court documents.

Richard S. Dean, 49, was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 500 grams of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced today. Dean was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joshua A. Violanti, who handled the case, stated that the defendant was a drug trafficking associate of co-defendant Douglas Beardsley. During the conspiracy, Dean would go over to Beardsley’s residences on Linden and Forest Avenues in Jamestown several times a week and pick up ounces of methamphetamine and grams of heroin to sell for Beardsley. At times, Beardsley would “front” the narcotics to the defendant to sell.

Dean and Beardsley would often communicate about their drug trafficking, including through their Facebook accounts. On January 6, 2019, local law enforcement observed a suspicious male, later identified as Dean, who became evasive and ran from officers. Shortly thereafter, Dean was taken into custody and arrested on an outstanding warrant. He was transported to the Jamestown City jail where a subsequent search revealed that he possessed methamphetamine, heroin, plastic baggies, a digital scale, and Dimethyl Sulfone, a common cutting agent for methamphetamine.

On March 21, 2019, Dean pleaded guilty in Chautauqua County Court to Criminal Possession Controlled Substance-5th: Intent To Sell and Criminal Sale Controlled Substance-5th Degree. This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Bryan Miller, New York Field Division; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Frank Tarentino, New York Field Division; and the Jamestown Police Department, under the direction of Chief Timothy Jackson.

Douglas Beardsley, a co-defendant, was previously convicted and sentenced to serve 176 months in prison.

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