(WNY News Now) A Buffalo man who was involved in a drug plot that resulted in a gruesome triple killing faces over 14 years in federal prison.
Buffalo, New York. Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford sentenced 42-year-old James Reed, also known as Fatts, to 166 months in prison for his involvement in a drug conspiracy that resulted in the brutal murders of three individuals in 2019—including a young father and mother.
Reed was found guilty of conspiracy involving drugs, obstruction of justice, felony use of fire, and accessory after the fact. Following a collaborative investigation by the FBI, Buffalo Police Department, and other organizations, he was sentenced.
The lawsuit concerns a drug trafficking organization that was based out of Buffalo’s 973 Fillmore Avenue. The property was used by Reed and his accomplices to store and package cocaine, heroin, and marijuana for sale.
Reed was involved in a cocaine deal that ended in death in September 2019. He bought a kilogram of cocaine from suppliers Miguel Anthony Valentin-Colon and Dhamyl Roman-Audiffred with co-conspirator Jariel Cobb. When another co-defendant, Deandre Wilson, shot and killed Valentin-Colon and his wife, Nicole Merced-Plaud, in their car with their small boy in the back seat, the transaction took a negative turn.
Wilson attacked Roman-Audiffred inside a neighboring house, knocking her out. After that, Reed and Cobb disassembled her body and tried to burn the pieces to get rid of them.
The next day, Cobb and Wilson left their young child unharmed on a stranger’s porch and set fire to the minivan in Buffalo that held the bodies of Valentin-Colon and Merced-Plaud.
Wilson and Cobb, co-defendants, were sentenced to more severe terms. Wilson is receiving three life sentences for his crimes, including the murders, while Cobb is serving 20 years.
The Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), a federal program dedicated to breaking up elite criminal networks, are highlighted in this case.
The FBI, Buffalo Police Department, Erie County Sheriff’s Office, and Erie County District Attorney’s Office were among the agencies that carried out the investigation.
