PAROLED PRIOR VIOLENT FELONY OFFENDER SENTENCED TO 14 YEARS FOR CRACK POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO SELL

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Andy Sukram, 33, of Flanders, was sentenced to 14 years in prison followed by three years of post-release supervision, after a jury trial found him guilty in October of possessing nearly one ounce of crack cocaine with the intent to sell it.

“This case highlights how broken our parole system is.” said District Attorney Tierney. “This defendant, a prior violent felony offender, was caught committing this crime while on parole. Now he is going back to prison for another 14 years. The legislature has tied the hands of our parole officers by making it next to impossible to violate parole offenders.”

The evidence at trial established that on February 1, 2023, Sukram was pulled over on Old Country Road in Riverhead by members of the Suffolk County Police Department. Sukram and the 2006 Chevrolet Malibu he was driving were then searched. During the search, police found cash and crack cocaine hidden in Sukram’s waistband. Law enforcement also found two cell phones and a digital scale often used for weighing drugs.

In 2009, Sukram was convicted in Suffolk County of Burglary in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, and Robbery in the First Degree, a Class B violent felony, and served 12 years in prison. He was on parole when he was arrested in February.

On October 26, 2023, a jury convicted Sukram of two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, Class B felonies.

On December 4, 2023, Sukram was sentenced before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Timothy P. Mazzei, to 14 years in prison followed by three years of post-release supervision. He was being represented by Jason Bassett, Esq.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Danielle Carter and Patrick Fedun of the Major Crime Bureau, with investigative assistance from Detectives Christopher Fiori and Wayne Heater of the Suffolk County Police Department.

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