KINGSTON >> A Newburgh man has been found guilty of crack cocaine sales in Kingston, the Ulster County District Attorney’s Office said Thursday.
Leon Smith, age 36, was convicted Wednesday by an Ulster County jury of 10 men and two women of criminal sale of a controlled substance and criminal possession of a controlled substance, both felonies. The verdict followed a three day trial in Ulster County Court before County Judge Donald A. Williams.
In September 2013, Smith became a target of the Kingston police Special Investigations Unit for suspected illegal narcotic transactions, according to the district attorney’s office. On Sept. 23, police organized a “buy-bust” operation, using a confidential informant who knew Smith and had purchased crack cocaine from him on prior occasions. The unit arranged when and where the drug sale would take place by having the informant call the defendant on his cell phone while police monitored the phone call, authorities said.
Police, who were undercover and waiting in the area, arrested Smith immediately after he sold crack cocaine to the informant.
During a post-arrest interview, Smith said he had recently moved to Kingston from Newburgh, where he had worked at a fast food restaurant. He told police that, when the Department of Social Services learned of his income, they said he would now have to pay his own rent. Smith told police he quit his job to stay on public assistance.
“So, basically, we have a drug dealer from Newburgh who gets out of prison, moves to Kingston, quits his job in order to get social services to pay his rent and sells crack to supplement his income,” District Attorney Holley Carnright said in press release.
Smith has a criminal history in Orange County dating to 1995 and two prior felony convictions for selling narcotics that resulted in two prison stints, and three misdemeanor convictions, all for drugs, the District Attorney’s Office said.
He was placed on both probation and parole on numerous occasions and has violated parole four separate times, authorities said.
Smith’s sentencing is scheduled for July 17.
The case was prosecuted by Cliff Owens, the Ulster County senior assistant district attorney. Smith was represented by the conflict defender.
