Schenectady Man Sentenced for Drug and Firearm Offenses (DOJ)

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Nekie Ricks, age 33, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 120 months in prison for possessing with intent to distribute crack-cocaine and for possessing a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking.

First Assistant United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Bryan DiGirolamo, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) announced the sentence.

In pleading guilty, Ricks admitted that in late August 2022 he was riding his bicycle in the late evening hours in the City of Schenectady when he was stopped by Schenectady Police Department officers for traffic violations and resisting arrest. At the time, Ricks had multiple plastic bags with about 31 grams of cocaine base and cash in his pant pockets and carried a cross-body Adidas bag with a loaded 9mm handgun and a high-voltage taser to protect his drugs and drug proceeds. The defendant was prohibited from possessing firearms because he had previously been convicted of two prior felony offenses.

In addition to the 120-month sentence of imprisonment in this case, U.S. District Judge Mae A. D'Agostino sentenced Ricks to four years of supervised release, which will begin after he completes his term of imprisonment.

First Assistant United States Attorney Sarcone stated, "Ricks was riding around on a bicycle in Schenectady peddling drugs and carrying a dangerous loaded gun, which threatens public safety and makes Schenectady a more dangerous place. Thanks to ATF and our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners, Ricks will now be behind bars rather than handlebars and our community will be much safer."

Special Agent in Charge DiGirolamo said, "This defendant, a convicted felon, chose to distribute and possess crack cocaine and a loaded gun within Schenectady. This significant sentence reflects the seriousness of those crimes. Through the strong partnership of ATF, the Schenectady Police Department, and the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York, a repeat offender is now off the streets."

ATF investigated this Project Safe Neighborhoods case with the Schenectady Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Wentworth-Ping prosecuted the case.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psn.