A Rochester man will spend 12 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and possessing firearms tied to his drug operation.
Wayne McDaniels, 42, was sentenced to 144 months by Chief U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Wolford after his conviction for possession with intent to distribute 10 grams or more of a fentanyl analogue and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Investigators executed a search warrant at McDaniels’ Maria Street apartment in November 2022. Officers seized more than 400 individually packed bags of fentanyl, bulk quantities of fentanyl and cocaine, drug paraphernalia and two loaded firearms.
Authorities said the search was part of a larger investigation into a group that sold fentanyl and crack cocaine from multiple drug houses over several years. Prosecutors identified McDaniels as a leader of the group.
One of the drug houses operated out of a Jay Street residence. On Aug. 1, 2022, McDaniels’ six-month-old nephew died there from a fentanyl overdose.
Homeland Security Investigations, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office, Rochester Police, the Ontario County Sheriff’s Office and the Greater Rochester Area Narcotics Enforcement Team investigated the case.
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