Veteran pot trafficker faces push for long prison term

Andre Sumpter of Cheektowaga, who authorities say has been an active marijuana dealer for the past decade, pleaded guilty Friday to first- and second-degree criminal possession of marijuana and weapons charges for his two arrests in June 2012 in Buffalo that led to the seizure of more than 34 pounds of marijuana, $2,300 cash and a loaded .38-caliber revolver, Erie County District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III

Sumpter, who was remanded to jail by Erie County Judge Thomas P. Franczyk pending his March 6 sentencing as a two-time violent felony offender, had been able to post $100,000 cash bail two years ago and immediately resumed his pot business when he got out, Sedita said.

Sedita said his office will push to have him sentenced to the maximum-allowable 20 years in prison.

Sumpter was arrested last February during a police raid on a Courtland Avenue drug house at which more 700 bags of marijuana and $5,100 in cash and what police described as an emaciated pit bull locked in a crate were recovered, Sedita said.

Sumpter pleaded guilty to the highest charges he would have faced after a trial.

Sedita also noted the gun plea marked Sumpter’s third local conviction for illegal possession of a handgun, dating back to 2003.