27-Year-Old Dealer Moved 3.2 Kg Coke, 600 G Fentanyl, Sentenced

ELLENVILLE, NY — A prolific Hudson Valley drug dealer with a dangerous reputation is off the streets for a long time.

U.S. Attorney Carla B. Freedman said that 27-year-old Joshua Atkinson, of Ellenville, was sentenced last week to serve 156 months in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. Senior U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd also imposed a 5-year term of post-release supervison.

The announcement was made along with William S. Walker, Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), New York; and Ulster County Sheriff Juan Figueroa, whose office leads the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team (URGENT).

Atkinson was one of 11 defendants charged in the case.

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These defendants pleaded guilty and have been sentenced or are pending sentencing:

• Christopher Baez, a/k/a "Butta," of Manhattan, was sentenced to 71 months in prison, to be followed by a 5-year term of supervised release;
• Michael Herry was sentenced to 27 months in prison, to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release;
• Joshua Morales, a/k/a "Young," of Ellenville, is scheduled to be sentenced on February 19;
• Joseph Logan, a/k/a "Jazz" aka "Jabb,” of Ellenville, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21;
• Timothy Hutcherson is scheduled to be sentenced on April 9; and
• Daryl Livingston, aka "Whiz," of Huguenot, is scheduled to be sentenced on April 2.

As part of his guilty plea, Atkinson admitted that during the conspiracy, he distributed and possessed with intent to distribute around 3.2 kilograms of cocaine and 600 grams of fentanyl.

He also admitted to using violence to obtain payments from drug redistributors, including using a hammer to threaten a co-conspirator.

In January 2023, a search warrant was executed at Atkinson's Ellenville home and a .22 caliber pistol was found by law enforcement.

The case is being investigated by HSI; the Ulster County Sheriff's Office in collaboration with URGENT (the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement and Narcotics Team), an inter-agency taskforce targeting drug dealers and gang members in Ulster County; the NYS Police; the Village of Ellenville PD; and the White Plains PD, with assistance from the Ulster County DA’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashlyn Miranda is prosecuting this case.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the U.S. by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.