Buffalo Woman Sentenced For Conspiracy To Distribute Heroin

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y.-Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Jeannette Knightner, 35, of Buffalo, NY, who was convicted of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute; and to distribute; heroin within 1,000 feet of public housing authority property, was sentenced to time served by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney George C. Burgasser, who handled the case, stated that in June of 2014, the defendant agreed with Reginald Royal, Sr. to store heroin at a residence at 31 Olcott Lower in Lackawanna. On June 11, 2014, Reginald Royal, Sr. sold $100 worth of heroin to a confidential informant at Royal, Sr.’s residence at 1 Olin Lane which is part of the Baker Homes Public Housing Projects, a public housing facility owned by the Lackawanna Municipal Housing Authority. The heroin Royal sold to the confidential informant was retrieved from the defendant’s residence.

In addition, at the request of co-defendant Royal, Sr., on June 17, 2014, the defendant drove to Columbus, Ohio with another individual and purchased 23.5 grams of heroin for $2,200 that Royal, Sr. had provided to her. On June 18, 2014, as Knightner was driving back to New York, she and another individual were pulled over by the Erie County Sheriff’s Office near Angola, NY and the heroin was discovered in the defendant’s purse.

For his role, Reginald Royal, Sr. has been convicted and is scheduled to be sentenced on April 12, 2017.

Today’s sentencing is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Adam S. Cohen, Special Agent-in-Charge; the Lackawanna Police Department, under the direction of Chief James Michel; and the Erie County Sheriff’s Office, under the direction of Timothy Howard.