Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn announces that 36-year-old Charles Watkins of Buffalo pleaded guilty before Erie County Court Judge Kenneth F. Case to four counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Class “A-2” felonies.

On four separate occasions during the spring of 2018, the defendant sold one ounce of cocaine to a DEA informant on Buffalo’s West Side. For each sale, the defendant received $1,100 in cash.

The defendant also pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a Class “B” felony. In September 2017, police recovered over one ounce of cocaine, $25,000 in cash and drug paraphernalia from the defendant’s home on Baynes Street in the City of Buffalo. DNA evidence tied the defendant to the narcotics.

Watkins faces a maximum of 64 years in prison when he is sentenced on January 2, 2019 at 9:30 a.m.

DA Flynn commends members of the DEA and Erie County Sheriff’s Office for their work in this investigation.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney James W. Mansour, II of the DA’s Narcotics Unit and Assistant District Attorney Sean B. Bunny of the DA’s Justice Courts.