John Colella, Wayne-NET
Posted by Tom Breen
on Apr 23, 2014
We were honored today to be joined by John Colella, Macedon’s Chief of Police and co-commander of Wayne-NET, the Wayne County Narcotics Enforcement Team. After a brief introduction by Rotarian Wayne Brophy, John (he prefers to be called John, not “Chief.”) updated us on some of the work done by Wayne-NET.
Wayne-NET was organized by police chiefs in Wayne County in 2005, in an effort to pool resources to curtail drug crime in the county. If each police department had to have its own team, the cost would be prohibitive. By banding together, officers could work together more efficiently across jurisdictions. For the first few years, Wayne-NET focused on street-level drug crimes. Unfortunately, due to state sentencing guidelines, the dealers convicted would often be in and out of prison in pretty short order. The team would find themselves building cases against the same offenders all over again.
Wayne Brophy and President Pam welcome Macedon Police Chief John Colella of Wayne-NET.
Wayne-NET was organized by police chiefs in Wayne County in 2005, in an effort to pool resources to curtail drug crime in the county. If each police department had to have its own team, the cost would be prohibitive. By banding together, officers could work together more efficiently across jurisdictions. For the first few years, Wayne-NET focused on street-level drug crimes. Unfortunately, due to state sentencing guidelines, the dealers convicted would often be in and out of prison in pretty short order. The team would find themselves building cases against the same offenders all over again.
Wayne Brophy and President Pam welcome Macedon Police Chief John Colella of Wayne-NET.
In 2008, the decision was made to go after those on the next rung up the ladder, targeting the larger-scale drug “rings” in the county. Partnering with federal agencies such as the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA), Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), Wayne-NET was now able to bring federal charges against those involved. Federal sentencing guidelines are more severe than NY State’s, meaning those convicted were subject to longer prison terms. Under federal guidelines, those convicted must serve at least 80% of their term before being eligible for release. State prisoners could potentially be out of prison after serving only half their sentence.
John told us that investigations can take months to complete, with wire-taps being a primary avenue of investigation. Some of the drug organizations that have been taken down had connections to New York City, Arizona, and most recently, Jamaica. Recently, some distributors in the Newark/Lyons area were apprehended after a lengthy investigation. This group of 12 people was bringing 2 to 3 kg of cocaine into the area each month. John related that in that case against several dealers, the ringleader was sentenced to 20 years; the Lyons distributor got 13 years; the distributor for North Rose received a 15 year sentence; and the Newark distributor was sentenced to 5 years.
Wayne-NET and their partners continue to investigate drug-related crime in the county. In fact, almost all of the crime in the county is related to drugs. John and the others on the team remain dedicated in their cause.
John told us that investigations can take months to complete, with wire-taps being a primary avenue of investigation. Some of the drug organizations that have been taken down had connections to New York City, Arizona, and most recently, Jamaica. Recently, some distributors in the Newark/Lyons area were apprehended after a lengthy investigation. This group of 12 people was bringing 2 to 3 kg of cocaine into the area each month. John related that in that case against several dealers, the ringleader was sentenced to 20 years; the Lyons distributor got 13 years; the distributor for North Rose received a 15 year sentence; and the Newark distributor was sentenced to 5 years.
Wayne-NET and their partners continue to investigate drug-related crime in the county. In fact, almost all of the crime in the county is related to drugs. John and the others on the team remain dedicated in their cause.
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