FROM: HOLLEY CARNRIGHT
DATE: DECEMBER 9, 2015
RE: PRESS RELEASE – PEOPLE V. AKHENATON RUSSELL
On December 9th,
2015, after a trial in Ulster County Court, a jury of six men and six women returned
a verdict finding Akhenaton Russell guilty of two counts of Criminal Sale of a
Controlled Substance in the Third Degree.
Russell’s arrest was
the result of a narcotics investigation by the City of Kingston Police
Department’s Special Investigations Unit between April and May of 2014. On two separate occasions during that
investigation, Russell sold cocaine to an undercover police operative.
Russell has a long
criminal history that includes two prior felony convictions, one for Sex Abuse
in the First Degree and a second for Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in
the Third Degree.
The case was
prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Matthew Grimes. The defendant was represented by Beth Gibson
and John Ventosa. Russell is scheduled
to be sentenced by the Hon. Donald A. Williams on February 11, 2016.
