Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brett Harvey and Frank Sherman, who
handled the trial, stated that the defendant was initially arraigned on a
criminal complaint in the Western District of New York on June 4, 2015.
Subsequent to his arrest on the federal charges, Sandford attempted to
intimidate and threaten a suspected witness against him by shouting to that
individual: “I’m not going to be in jail long. I will see you on the outside
you snitch,” with the intent to influence, delay or prevent the testimony of
that suspected witness in the prosecution of defendant.
Eventually, Sandford was charged in a superseding indictment
which alleged that he distributed synthetic cannabinoids (designer drugs)
between July 2014 and March 24, 2015, in the Penn Yan area. He was further
charged with distributing such substances— and controlled substance analogues,
which are designed to mimic the effects of controlled substances—both to
individuals under the age of 21 and within 1000 feet of St. Michael’s School, a
private elementary school in Penn Yan.
In addition, the superseding indictment alleged that on February 22,
2015, the defendant traded synthetic cannabinoids to a minor in exchange for a
stolen Savage .410 double barrel shotgun. At the time, the defendant had two
prior felony convictions preventing him from legally possessing a gun. Finally,
the superseding indictment also charged him with witness tampering related to
his statements to the suspected witness.
With the defendant contending that he did not know the
substances he was distributing were illegal, the jury failed to reach a verdict
on the drug charges against him. The
jury did, however, convict him of the two firearms charges and the witness
tampering charge against him.
The guilty verdicts are the result of an investigation by
the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special
Agent-in-Charge James J. Hunt, New York Field Office; the Penn Yan Police
Department, under the direction of Chief Mark Hulse; the Yates County Sheriff’s
Department, under the direction of Ronald Spike; and the Yates County District
Attorney’s Office, under the direction of Valerie Gardner.
