BUFFALO, N.Y. — A Buffalo man faces mandatory life in prison after a federal court jury found him guilty of selling fentanyl and other drugs that led to a woman's death.
Following a two week trial, Jawayne Watkins, 32, aka Weezy, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, possessing with intent to distribute, and distributing heroin and 4-fluoroisobutyryl fentanyl, causing serious bodily injury to, and the death an individual.
The US Attorney's Office says on November 10, 2017, the victim, identified only as A.C., died after taking a substance she obtained from Watkins.
“While this Office has charged numerous individuals with distributing deadly opiates that resulted in the death of another individual, Watkins is only the second defendant so-charged to choose to exercise his constitutional right to a jury trial,” said U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. “Both Watkins and his predecessor, Dontrell Wise, were convicted at trial, and both, having previously been convicted of drug offenses, face mandatory life sentences as a result. The message should be clear. If you peddle this poison and someone dies from the drugs you provide, then your cost of doing business will be to have to spend at least 20 years—if not the rest of your life—in jail. That you may not have intended to kill or even hurt anyone won’t entitle you to any discounts.”
Watkins was already on parole and living in a halfway house when he was arrested. US District Court Judge Richard Arcara set sentencing for January 29, 2021.
