Falls man sentenced in heroin case | Local News

BUFFALO — A Falls man, convicted in federal court in a heroin conspiracy case, is headed to prison.

Michael Mitchell, 38, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 100 grams or more of heroin, was sentenced to serve 78 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Vilardo.

Federal prosecutors said that between June 2013 and September 2015, Mitchell conspired with others to sell heroin, fentanyl, and cocaine. Mitchell received heroin, cocaine, and crack cocaine base from a co-defendant Troy Gillon, and worked with others to distribute the drugs in the Falls and Lockport.

He was charged, along with 16 others, with being a member of a transnational drug trafficking organization, led by Herman Aguirre. The organization utilized contacts and a source of supply whose territory included Mexico, Arizona, California and New York.

The source of supply was the Sinaloa Cartel, led by Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán and Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada.

During the course of the investigation, law enforcement officers seized over $5 million worth of illegal narcotics, including 52.5 kilograms of cocaine; 17.5 kilograms of heroin; and 8.5 kilograms of fentanyl. Using standard dosage amounts, the seized drugs potentially represented over 1.5 million “hits” of cocaine, and 2.7 million “hits” of heroin.

Prosecutors noted that two milligrams of fentanyl can be a lethal dose, so the organization distributed enough fentanyl to potentially kill over four million people.