Buffalo Man Pleads Guilty To Multiple Drug And Gun Charges

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Marcello Wiggins, aka Slurp, 37, of Buffalo, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford to possessing with intent to distribute butyryl fentanyl; possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking; and possessing with intent to distribute 28 grams or more of crack cocaine. The charges carry a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and a $5,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Timothy C. Lynch and Laura A. Higgins, who are handling the case, stated that on March 8, 2019, Buffalo Police Officers responded to an “unknown trouble” 911 call on Gatchell Street. When officers arrived, they observed the defendant engaged in an argument with a female with his arms wrapped around her body. As officers began to get out of their marked patrol vehicle, Wiggins fled. One of the officers pursued the defendant on foot along Gatchell Street and observed Wiggins toss a firearm beneath a parked vehicle. The firearm, a semi-automatic pistol bearing a defaced serial number, was recovered and the defendant was arrested, searched, and found in possession of suspected controlled substances. Subsequent testing determined that the substances were cocaine, a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, and a mixture containing butyryl fentanyl.

On April 12, 2019, the defendant was again arrested after he was stopped in a taxi cab arriving at a residence on Tuxedo Place in Buffalo. Wiggins, who was a backseat passenger, was removed from the vehicle and taken into custody. In plain view on the floor of the taxi, officers observed a bag containing suspected controlled substances and a digital scale. Another bag of suspected controlled substances was observed on the ground in the area from which the defendant had been removed from the taxi. Subsequent testing determined that the bags contained butyryl fentanyl, and crack cocaine.

The plea is the result of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations Border Enforcement Security Team Buffalo, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Kevin Kelly; the Erie County Sheriff's Office, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy Howard; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Byron Lockwood; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.

Sentencing will be scheduled at a later date.