Former Afro Dogs President Sentenced on Drug Conspiracy and Other Charges

BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced today that Dewey Taylor, a/k/a Road Rash, 42, of Buffalo, New York, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and structuring financial transactions following a five-week jury trial, was sentenced to 144 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas S. Duszkiewicz and Eric M. Opanga, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated the government’s evidence established that the defendants in this case used the Afro Dogs Motorcycle Clubhouse as a front for a cocaine trafficking operation. Dewey Taylor was the former president of the Afro Dogs Motorcycle Club. Between 2006 and March 2, 2011, Taylor supplied Afro Dogs National Vice President John C. Smith, a/k/a Kazoo, with cocaine for distribution to members and non-members throughout the Buffalo area. The evidence presented by the government at trial included five months of wiretap conversations recorded on John Smiths’ cellular phone. The government also presented evidence of 14 undercover purchases of cocaine from Smith. John Smith was awaiting sentencing in June 2013 when he died.

In addition to being found guilty of drug conspiracy, Taylor was also convicted of seven counts of structuring financial transactions to evade currency reporting requirements. On seven separate occasions, Taylor deposited funds into personal and business accounts in the name of DT Liquors at the Erie Metro Federal Credit Union. The individual deposits totaled more than $10,000, which requires the filing of a Currency Transaction Report with the Internal Revenue Service. But the defendant split the transactions into smaller amounts in an attempt to evade the reporting requirements.

Co-defendant Dale Lockwood pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine in August 2013 and was sentencing to 60 months in prison. Co-defendants William Szymanski, Anthony Burley, and Van Miller were acquitted of the same charge.

The five defendants were arrested in March 2011 along with seven other defendants who were previously convicted of related charges.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian P. Boetig; the New York State Police, under the direction of Major Wayne Olson; the Buffalo Police Department, under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda; the Amherst Police Department, under the direction of Chief John Askey; the Tonawanda Police Department, under the direction of Chief Anthony Palombo; the Lockport Police Department, under the direction of Chief Lawrence Eggert; and the Internal Revenue Service, under the direction of Toni M. Weirauch, Special Agent in Charge.