Buffalo Man Indicted For Selling Deadly “Heroin” Mixture Resulting In Two Deaths

BUFFALO-A Buffalo man was indicted in Federal Court Monday on several drug charges, two of which allege his distribution of deadly heroin resulted in serious bodily injury and death to two of his customers according to acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr.

Aaron J. McDuffie, AKA “G”, 22, was charged with Possessing with Intent to Distribute and Distributing Quantities of Heroin, Fentanyl, Butyryl Fentanyl and Furanyl Fentanyl, and Possessing a Firearm in Furtherance of Drug Trafficking Crimes.

The drug charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 20 years in prison, a maximum of life and a $1 million fine, while the firearm charge carries a mandatory consecutive term of five years.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Wei Xiang said a man called A.E. eventually died of an overdose in June 2015 via an acute combination of Butyryl Fentanyl and Morphine Intoxication. An investigation reportedly revealed A.E.’s cell phone helped identify McDuffie as the man who sold him the drugs.

Xiang said McDuffie changed his telephone number following the overdose death as he had admitted to another customer that he had given A.E. some highly potent heroin and that he warned A.E. not to use as much.

Another individual, D.M., reportedly died of an overdose last November. A subsequent investigation conducted by the West Seneca Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration eventually identified McDuffie as the individual who, on November 23, 2016, distributed the fatal mixture of Fentanyl, Butyryl Fentanyl, and Furanyl Fentanyl to D.M.

“Since 1975, approximately 5,000 Americans have been killed by terrorists,” said Kennedy. “In 2015 alone, more than 10 times that number of Americans—over 50,000—died of drug overdoses, and that number is on the rise.”

“As prosecutors, we took an oath to enforce the law and protect society. From doctors and healthcare professionals who violate their oath by prescribing these poisons without a legitimate medical purpose, to street-level distributors, such as McDuffie, who are out to make a few bucks on the lives of others, this Office remains resolute in our effort to do all that we can to bring these law-breakers to justice and to eliminate the threat they present.”

DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt stated: “Indictments and arrests cannot erase the result of fatal overdoes, but they do send a succinct message to traffickers that the consequences of their actions will be accounted for and they shall be brought to justice.”

“DEA will continue to focus our resources on targeting and dismantling drug trafficking organizations pushing lethal combinations of Heroin and Fentanyl onto our streets and into addicts’ hands.”

McDuffie  was reportedly arrested on a federal criminal complaint and a search warrant was executed at his Buffalo residence last November. Defendant has remained in custody since then.

The defendant was arraigned this morning before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer, and he continues to be detained.