Drug dealer gets life for killing Cheektowaga woman

BUFFALO – Dontrell Wise will spend the rest of his life behind bars after a federal judge sentenced the convicted drug dealer to life in prison for selling a fatal dose of drugs that killed a Cheektowaga woman in 2017.

The 32-year-old from Buffalo sold approximately 10 grams of a substance containing fentanyl which ultimately was injected by the Cheektowaga woman, resulting in her overdose death according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Adler.

Two weeks earlier, Mr. Wise was stopped by Buffalo Police officers in a rental vehicle with heavily tinted windows.  He was found in possession of over $8,000 in cash, while a co-conspirator, Jerell Weathersby, had a quantity of butyryl fentanyl.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office established that Mr. Wise was a central member of a larger conspiracy crossing state lines, involving the distribution of narcotics in both Buffalo and Bradford, PA.

A federal jury convicted Mr. Wise of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin, butyryl fentanyl, fentanyl, cocaine, and crack cocaine; possession with intent to distribute butyryl fentanyl; and distribution of fentanyl causing death.

Co-conspirators Lemario Jones and Jerell Weathersby were later convicted for their involvement in the drug operation.  Mr. Jones was convicted of distribution of a controlled substance and sentenced to 63 months in prison.  Mr. Weathersby was convicted of possession with attempt to distribute butyryl fentanyl and sentenced to 21 months in prison.