By Tiffany Williams –
Justin Torres, 37, of Ellenville, New York, is headed to federal prison for more than three years after admitting his role in a drug conspiracy that pumped fentanyl and cocaine into Ulster County.
Torres was sentenced to 37 months behind bars for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute roughly 580 grams of cocaine and 200 grams of fentanyl. Senior U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd also hit him with a $5,000 fine and a three-year term of supervised release.
Torres wasn’t alone. He was one of 11 defendants charged in the case, part of a broader takedown led by the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT) alongside federal partners. Several of his co-defendants have already been sentenced, including Joshuan Atkinson, who drew 156 months, and Christopher Baez, who got 71 months. Others, like Joshua Morales and Joseph Logan, are still awaiting their day in court.
Acting U.S. Attorney John A. Sarcone III didn’t mince words in blasting New York’s bail laws, praising the federal case as proof of how to keep violent traffickers off the streets. He credited Sheriff Juan Figueroa and URGENT with leading a hard-hitting local effort that, he said, wouldn’t have held under state prosecution.
HSI New York’s Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel said the case was a “coordinated, intelligence-driven investigation” that disrupted a narcotics pipeline. Sheriff Figueroa echoed that the collaboration was crucial in cutting into drug trafficking networks that fuel crime spikes.
For Torres, the 37-month sentence is lighter than several of his co-defendants, but prosecutors say the message is the same: federal authorities are targeting traffickers and intend to dismantle their networks piece by piece.