10th Street Gang Member Sentenced on Racketeering Charge

Buffalo, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that 10th Street Gang member Desmond Ford, 33, of Buffalo, who was convicted of RICO conspiracy, was sentenced to 200 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Joseph M. Tripi, who is handling the case, stated that between 2000 and 2010, the defendant was a member of the 10th Street Gang. As a part of his involvement in the gang, Ford, along with other members and associates of the gang, committed violence, possessed firearms, and sold marijuana, cocaine, crack cocaine, and other controlled substances on the West Side of Buffalo.

The defendant is among 44 10th Street Gang members and associates charged and convicted in this case.

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation on the part of Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Michael Cerretto, the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Delano A. Reid, New York Field Division.