Leader of Suburban Buffalo Based Cocaine Ring Sentenced

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — A suburban Buffalo man who recruited family members to act as couriers to deliver large amounts of cocaine over a 22-year span has received a stiff prison sentence.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says 49-year-old Jack Reid III, of Williamsville, was sentenced Tuesday to 25 years in federal prison and 10 years supervised release.

A federal judge also ordered Reid to forfeit $1 million and two properties in the village of Williamsville and the town of Amherst.

A jury convicted Reid of conspiring to possess with intent to distribute cocaine.

Prosecutors say starting in 1990 and lasting through April 2012, Reid used relatives and others as drug couriers and distributors for cocaine obtained from sources in Rochester, New York City and Atlanta. The coke was then distributed throughout neighboring Erie and Niagara counties.