Schenectady Men Sentenced For Heroin And Crack Cocaine Conspiracy
Operated Drug House Next to Children’s Daycare Center
ALBANY, N.Y. - William Hilts, a/k/a “True,” age 53, and Elijah Jones, age 31, both of Schenectady, New York, were sentenced today for conspiring to distribute heroin and crack cocaine.
Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy sentenced Hilts to 180 months in prison and eight years of post-imprisonment supervised release. He sentenced Jones to 92 months in prison and four years of supervised release.
The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt, New York Division, U.S. Drug Enforcement (DEA).
Jones, Hilts’s nephew and conspirator, pleaded guilty in May 2017 to conspiracy to distribute heroin and crack cocaine.
Following a week-long jury trial in May 2017, Hilts was convicted of conspiring to distribute heroin and crack, and other, related drug crimes. The evidence at trial demonstrated that Hilts supervised the distribution of crack cocaine and heroin out of a residence in Schenectady, New York, adjacent to a children’s daycare center, and often in direct view of young children. Hilts, who has numerous felony convictions for drug trafficking, began selling heroin and crack just weeks after being released from state prison for a 2013 felony drug offense.
This case was investigated by the DEA and the Schenectady County Sheriff’s Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Wayne A. Myers and Joseph A. Giovannetti.