Buffalo man sentenced to prison for Salamanca casino hotel fentanyl bust | Olean

BUFFALO — A Buffalo man caught with a large amount of fentanyl in his vehicle and a Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino hotel room almost two years ago will serve federal prison time.

Jose Alvarez, 26, of Buffalo, was sentenced to 12 months in prison Friday in U.S. District Court in Buffalo for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, butyryl fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Lawrence Vilardo.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Cullinane, who handled the case, said Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations special agents executed a search warrant on Alvarez’s vehicle July 27, 2017, and recovered 20 bags of butyryl fentanyl, a Schedule I controlled substance and powerful opioid often responsible for heroin overdoses.

Agents learned Alvarez and his co-defendants were staying in a hotel room at the Seneca Allegany Resort and Casino in Salamanca and executed a search warrant on their room, recovering another 196 bags of butyryl fentanyl, according to Cullinane.

Cullinane added Alvarez also admitted to selling butyryl fentanyl on three prior occasions in Salamanca in May and July of 2017.

Alvarez and his two co-defendants, two Buffalo-area men, were originally charged by New York state authorities with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, both class B felonies.

In addition to the DEA and Homeland Security, Cullinane noted the efforts of the Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force and New York State Police.