Convicted Falls drug dealer gets more than 15 year prison term

Rick Pfeiffer -, Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
·1 min read

Jul. 22—BUFFALO — A convicted drug dealer who was accused of running a heroin distribution ring that spanned from the Falls to Lockport has been sentenced to serve more than 15 years in federal prison.

U.S. District Court Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr. handed down the prison term of 184 months behind bars to Bruno J. Haney II, 35, of the Falls, during a proceeding in federal court in Buffalo on Friday. Haney was convicted of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute and distributing heroin, fentanyl, and butyryl fentanyl.

Federal prosecutors charged that between April 2017 and March 2019, Haney "organized and led" a drug trafficking organization that spanned Niagara County.

In June 2017, investigators with the Niagara County Drug Task Force executed a search warrant at Haney's home and seized several bags containing butyryl fentanyl, hydrocodone, acetaminophen, and alprazolam pills. They also recovered $515 in cash and drug paraphernalia.

In January 2019, drug task force investigators executed a second search warrant, at a different residence, and took Haney into custody. During that search and arrest, the investigators recovered quantities of fentanyl, a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, marijuana, $978 in cash, and drug paraphernalia.

After pleading not guilty to drug conspiracy and trafficking charges, Haney was released from federal custody on conditions which included that he not "commit any offense in violation of federal, state, or local law."

But on March 7, 2019, the drug task force investigators executed another search warrant at one of Haney's homes and seized a bag containing a mixture of heroin and fentanyl, $373 in cash, and a digital scale.