Amsterdam Man Sentenced to 130 Months for Drug and Firearms Offenses

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Samuel Payano, age 24, of Amsterdam, New York, was sentenced today to 130 months in prison for engaging in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving fentanyl pills, cocaine, and methamphetamine, for distributing fentanyl pills, and for using a firearm during or in relation to a drug trafficking crime.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division; and Bryan Miller, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), made the announcement.

As part of his prior guilty plea, Payano admitted that he conspired with Bernardo Tovar to distribute counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, as well as cocaine and methamphetamine, from May 2022 to December 2022. Payano also admitted that he distributed fentanyl pills and a firearm to another person on October 12, 2022. He also admitted that he and Tovar possessed fentanyl pills, cocaine, and methamphetamine, as well two firearms in their apartment, on December 7, 2022, when their apartment was searched.

Chief United States District Judge Branda K. Sannes also ordered that Payano serve a 4-year term of supervised release following his release from prison.

Payano's co-conspirator, Tovar, previously pled guilty and was sentenced to 181 months in prison.

The DEA and ATF investigated this case, and Assistant United States Attorney Alexander P. Wentworth-Ping prosecuted the case.