BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — U.S. Attorney Trini Ross announced Tuesday that a federal grand jury indicted a North Tonawanda man for selling drugs that led to someone's death.
Ernest Green, 41, was charged with distribution of fentanyl causing death, and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.
According to the indictment, it alleges that Green sold fentanyl in 2020 which resulted in the deaths of three people. He is now serving a 120-month federal sentence.
Green is the fifth person in the last six months to be accused of selling fentanyl and cocaine that resulted in a death or serious injury.
In February, 7 News anchor Lia Lando sat down with Erie County Sheriff John Garcia about the overdose problem in Erie County. In 2023, there were nearly 400 opioid overdose deaths. Garcia said he would like to see dealers charged with murder.
"I believe that people should be held accountable and there should be harsher laws and sentences for people that knowingly mix fentanyl into drugs to make a bigger profit knowing that these drugs are going to kill people," Garcia said. "I believe that if you go into a restaurant and you order a beer or a glass of wine and somebody poisons you or kills you that’s murder and that’s how I believe we should treat these greedy, very heinous, drug dealers | just like it would be somebody poisoning you. They’re doing it because of greed, Lia, and they should be charged with murder."
Recently, Erie County District Attorney John Flynn's office announced that a Kenmore woman was indicted for allegedly selling fentanyl-laced cocaine to an overdose victim. This was the second opiate-related homicide case to be prosecuted under Flynn's leadership.
But Flynn said he bumps up a lot of drug cases to the federal level because there are better statutes.
"I don’t care who takes the case. All I want the perpetrator behind bars because they have again allegedly engaged in fentanyl distribution that is literally killing hundreds of thousands of people in our society," Flynn said.
