Rochester Felon Whose Sentence Was Commuted By President Obama Pleads Guilty To Drug Trafficking While On Supervised Release

 ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Ruben Bullock, 46, of Rochester, NY, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Charles J. Siragusa to possessing with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine and violating federal supervised release. The charge carries a minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum of life, and an $8,000,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Everardo Rodriguez, who is handling the case, stated that on January 21, 2021, United States Probation Officers, suspecting that the defendant was engaged in criminal activity, conducted various probation searches at residences used by Bullock, including 154 Saranac Street in Rochester. At that location, probation officers recovered plastic bags from a backpack that contained approximately 750 grams of suspected cocaine, as well as two scales, and a bag containing baking soda commonly used to process cocaine. Probation officers also recovered $8,000 in cash and a quantity of marijuana in the residence. When the probation officers arrested Bullock, he had an additional $8,554 in cash on his person. Bullock admitted to officers to having purchased a kilogram of cocaine the day before for $45,000, as well as possessing the marijuana found inside the residence.   

At the time of his arrest, Bullock was on federal supervised release from a previous federal drug conviction for which he was sentenced to serve 210 months in prison by Judge Siragusa. In 2016, President Barack Obama commuted Bullock’s sentence to time served and the defendant was placed on federal supervised release for six years. 

“It is disgraceful that someone, having been  given a second chance at life by having his prior prison sentence commuted by the President of the United States, decided to squander such chance by returning to a life spent poisoning our community with drugs,”  U.S. Attorney Kennedy stated.  “I am particularly grateful to the men and women of the U.S. Probation Office for their outstanding work in realizing that Bullock was selling drugs and acting quickly and professionally to stop further sales.”

The plea is the result of an investigation by the Rochester United States Probation Office,  under the leadership of Timothy C. Englerth, Chief Probation Officer; and the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the leadership of Special Agent-in-Charge Ray Donovan, New York Field Division. 

Sentencing is scheduled for June 8, 2021, before Judge Siragusa.