Elma Man Pleads Guilty to Marijuana Trafficking

BUFFALO—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Carl Korzkowski, 30, of Elma, New York, pleaded guilty to marijuana trafficking before Chief U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison and a $5,000,000 fine.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael L. McCabe, who prosecuted the case, Korzkowski oversaw a long-running drug trafficking organization in the Buffalo area that distributed significant amounts of marijuana in 2010. The defendant helped to obtain the marijuana from Canada through distribution centers in northern New York State in and around the town of Massena and the Akwesasne Indian Reservation, which extends into Canada. Korzkowski then distributed the marijuana to a network of customers in the Buffalo area. The defendant also stored marijuana at commercial property on Harlem Road in West Seneca.

The plea is the culmination of an investigation on the part of special agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division; and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero; as well as officers from the Buffalo, Hamburg, West Seneca, and Lackawanna Police Departments and deputies from the Erie County Sheriff’s Department.

Sentencing is scheduled for January 10, 2013, at 9:00 a.m., before Judge Skretny.