Richard S. Dean, Methamphetamine Trafficking, New York 2022

BUFFALO, N.Y. – A Jamestown man has been sentenced to 70 months in prison for his role in a methamphetamine trafficking operation.

Richard S. Dean, 49, was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute, and distributing, 500 grams of methamphetamine, according to U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo.

Dean was a drug trafficking associate of co-defendant Douglas Beardsley, who was previously convicted and sentenced to serve 176 months in prison.

During the conspiracy, Dean would pick up ounces of methamphetamine and grams of heroin at Beardsley’s residences in Jamestown to sell for Beardsley. At times, Beardsley would ‘front’ the narcotics to Dean 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. Dean was taken into custody and arrested on an outstanding warrant.

During a subsequent search at the Jamestown City jail, authorities found methamphetamine, heroin, plastic baggies, a digital scale, and Dimethyl Sulfone, a common cutting agent for methamphetamine.

Dean pleaded guilty in Chautauqua County Court to Criminal Possession Controlled Substance-5th: Intent To Sell and Criminal Sale Controlled Substance-5th Degree on March 21, 2019.

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Jamestown Police Department.

The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation identified, disrupted, and dismantled the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach.