Erie man sentenced to 9 years in federal methamphetamine investigation in Jamestown, N.Y.

Tim Hahn, Erie Times-News
·2 min read
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An off-duty Edinboro police officer charged by Cambridge Springs police in September with harassment, a charge which was ultimately dismissed at the magisterial court level, has filed suit in federal court in Erie, claiming malicious prosecution and defamation.

Authorities were searching a Jamestown, New York residence for a federal fugitive in July 2019 when they said they encountered an Erie man who ran from them.

When local and federal officials caught up with Jarrod Adams, who was not the fugitive authorities were looking for, he was seen attempting to throw a large amount of crystal methamphetamine out of a second-floor window, according to information in court documents.

Adams, 43, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Buffalo on Wednesday to serve nine years in prison on his guilty plea in May to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of New York.

The charge carried a maximum possible sentence of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Wednesday's sentencing was the second for Adams in federal court. He was sentenced in 2004 in U.S. District Court in Erie to serve three years of probation and four months of home detention after pleading guilty to selling counterfeit money.

Authorities accused Adams in the drug case of possessing 223 grams of methamphetamine that authorities found in a black satchel they said Adams attempted to throw inside a Bishop Street residence in Jamestown on July 16, 2019. Authorities wrote in case documents that Adams admitted to living at the residence and possessing the methamphetamine with intent to distribute it to others.

Investigators wrote that they then served a search warrant on the residence, seized the black satchel and found more methamphetamine in other bedrooms.

According to a memorandum Adams' defense attorney filed prior to sentencing, Adams, who was born in Erie, grew up in a dysfunctional home and had a history of drug use, including methamphetamine. Adams had overdosed several times, and his wife died of a fentanyl overdose, according to the memorandum.

Adams' lawyer additionally wrote that Adams suffered a traumatic brain injury after being shot in the head in 2012.

Also charged in the drug investigation was Michael Murphy, 31, of Jamestown, and Rocco Beardsley, whose age and address were not listed by the U.S. Attorney's Office. Murphy, who was the fugitive authorities were looking for in July 2019, was sentenced on Wednesday to 16 years in prison on his conviction for narcotics conspiracy. Beardsley is scheduled for trial in March, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.

Contact Tim Hahn at thahn@timesnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @ETNhahn.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: Erie man sentenced to 9 years in federal methamphetamine probe in NY