Asheville News

Pot kingpin who supplied Asheville gets nabbed

Jason Sandford May 23, 2008

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

A Wayne County man has admitted guilt in an alleged plot that prosecutors said brought hundreds of pounds of marijuana across the border from Canada.

Jamahl Leonard, 29, of Sodus, the reputed ringleader of the plot in the Rochester area, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge David G. Larimer to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and money laundering.

He faces a prison term of 97 to 121 months under terms of a plea agreement, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas E. Gregory.

Leonard was one of 17 people charged in October 2007 in a plot that allegedly smuggled marijuana into New York through Akwesasne, a Mohawk reservation straddling the U.S.-Canada border, and distributed it as far away as Asheville, N.C.; Bloomington, Ind. and Philadelphia.

Jason Sandford

Jason Sandford is a reporter, writer, blogger and photographer interested in all things Asheville.

Asheville man is part of elite military team

Details of land-use planning session

4 Comments

ashevillein May 24, 2008

Akwasasne is the reservation Mario Cuomo threatened to invade with the NY National Guard, IIRC.

Reply
Catnap May 24, 2008

No, it was hard to cover – everybody knew what was going on, but it was a very closed society. No such thing as public records law, or public meeting laws. For many years a the state parked a trooper at each end of the road that traversed the rez – show of strength, intimidation? It was mostly a place for troopers approaching retirement to go to get a lot of overtime to boost their retirement pay.

Reply
Ash May 24, 2008

wow – sounds like some good fodder for newspapers.
did Asheville ever come up when you were there?

Reply
Catnap May 24, 2008

We used to cover Akwasasne at my first newspaper. Then the big deal was smuggling cigarettes. The reservation straddles two countries and two counties. It is almost entirely lawless. Back in my day one of the biggest abetters was a retired New York State Trooper – he’s in prison now.

Reply