Man faces 81 charges in Ontario County drug and firearm investigation
Ronnie Boswell Jr., also known as "Spaz," faces multiple charges, including criminal sale of a firearm, criminal possession of a weapon in the second and third degrees, conspiracy, and several drug-related offenses, such as criminal sale and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree.
According to Ontario County District Attorney Jim Ritts, the charges involve crimes that allegedly occurred between Oct. 1, 2024, and Jan. 2, 2025.
As part of the investigation, 14 firearms, 13 large-capacity magazines, and approximately 2,600 fentanyl pills were seized.
The 81 charges originated from a narcotics investigation in Geneva, which began in August 2024 after tips from community members about suspected drug use, loitering, and other quality-of-life issues in the city's downtown. Geneva Police Chief Ronald Eveland said these tips led authorities to Boswell, expanding the investigation into a multi-agency effort.
Through the investigation, 14 firearms were purchased and seized, including five assault weapons, along with 13 large-capacity feeding devices and about 2,600 fentanyl pills. The operation involved several agencies, including the Ontario County District Attorney's Office, ATF, Geneva Police Department, New York State Police, Ontario County Sheriff's Department, and the Seneca County Sheriff's Department, Ritts confirmed at a press conference on Thursday.
Ritts also stated that Boswell was arrested on Jan. 2, 2025, following a buy-bust operation. On the day of the bust, Boswell allegedly sold 200 fentanyl pills, a semi-automatic rifle, large-capacity ammunition magazines, and ammunition. The buy money was recovered when Boswell was taken into custody.
Ontario County Sheriff David Cirencione noted that Boswell was allegedly operating out of Rochester but was attempting to sell these firearms to individuals he believed were based in Ontario County. Cirencione added that authorities are continuing to investigate the origins of the weapons and whether they were involved in any prior crimes.
'The fact is, he was able to obtain these weapons easily and was proactively reaching out to the officers working this case, looking to sell guns almost daily,' Cirencione said.
The indictment reveals that Boswell had a prior conviction for attempted criminal possession of a weapon in December 2016 in Monroe County. Ritts said that given his prior felony convictions, Boswell could face a sentence of 25 years to life.
Boswell is currently being held at the Ontario County Jail awaiting arraignment.
— Madison Scott is a journalist with the Democrat and Chronicle who edited our Weld Street Project and also did reporting for it. She has an interest in how the system helps or doesn't help families with missing loved ones. She can be reached at MDScott@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Ronnie Boswell faces 81 charges in Ontario County drug investigation
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
7 hours ago
- New York Times
Live Updates: Zelensky Says He'll Meet With Trump After U.S.-Russia Summit Yields No Deal
When the International Criminal Court accused President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia of war crimes in 2023 and issued a warrant for his arrest, the move was largely symbolic because there was little chance he would stand trial. But it immediately jeopardized Mr. Putin's ability to travel to the more than 120 countries that have signed on to the I.C.C. They include almost every nation in Europe and dozens more in Africa, Asia and Latin America. They are all legally required to arrest Mr. Putin and send him to The Hague if he sets foot on their soil. But Mr. Putin's visit to Alaska on Friday highlighted a notable exception. To prevent the world's highest criminal court from being used to prosecute Americans, the United States has long refused to join the I.C.C., created over 20 years ago under the 1998 Rome Statute to handle accusations of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide. As a result, the United States is virtually the only country in the West that Mr. Putin can visit without worrying about arrest. Only a handful of other major powers, including China, India, Russia and Israel, have abstained from becoming signatories to the court. Even before the I.C.C. warrant for Mr. Putin was issued, it had been rare for him to travel abroad. He spent the first two years of the Covid pandemic in Russia, a period of isolation that some U.S. intelligence officials speculated might have heightened his appetite for risk and influenced his decision to launch the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The I.C.C. has accused Mr. Putin of bearing criminal responsibility for the abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children after Russia launched its invasion. But the court cannot try absent defendants, and Russia, which is not a party to the I.C.C., has dismissed the warrants as 'meaningless.' Though the court has no enforcement mechanism, the symbolic weight of its arrest warrant for Mr. Putin has forced members and nonmembers alike to decide whether they are willing to take the diplomatic risk of hosting a wanted man. That risk has not been enough to stop several countries that are friendly with Moscow — or reliant on it — from welcoming Mr. Putin. Since 2023, he has made repeated visits to China, Belarus and several Central Asian countries. In September, he was given a red-carpet welcome in Mongolia, which is a party to the I.C.C. but depends on neighboring Russia for most of its fuel. Mongolia isn't the only country to have defied its obligation to the court. South Africa did so in 2015, when it allowed Omar Hassan al-Bashir, then the Sudanese president, to fly in and out of Johannesburg while he was wanted by the I.C.C. on accusations of genocide and war crimes in his country's Darfur region. Mr. Bashir remains at large, a prominent example of the court's limitations. Last year, South Africa faced a dilemma over whether to permit Mr. Putin to attend the annual summit of BRICS nations. After months of speculation, the Kremlin announced that Mr. Putin would attend remotely. Mr. Putin is one of only a few sitting leaders facing an outstanding arrest warrant from the I.C.C. Another is Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel, whom the court last year accused of carrying out war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza. Mr. Netanyahu's office has categorically rejected what it called 'absurd and false accusations.' The United States, Israel's chief ally, also denounced the I.C.C. warrant for Mr. Netanyahu's arrest, and President Trump has since hosted the Israeli leader three times at the White House.
New York Post
18 hours ago
- New York Post
Trump's DC crime crackdown is saving the city — and its lawless kids
President Donald Trump's Washington, DC, police takeover is proving once and for all that our cities must give up their soft-on-crime policies — and display more compassion for victims than for criminals. Even if the criminals are kids. In a backward effort to promote 'equity,' progressive lawmakers in Washington and elsewhere have relieved teens of consequences for almost any crime they may commit. Advertisement But all it's done is tell lawbreakers they won't be held accountable for their antisocial actions. By sending in the National Guard, Trump is bringing common sense back to crime fighting and consequences back for those who commit crimes, including minors. It their parents aren't going to make teens control their impulses, law enforcement must. President Donald Trump's Washington, DC, police takeover is proving once and for all that our cities must give up their soft-on-crime policies — and display more compassion for victims than for criminals. Gripas Yuri/ABACA/Shutterstock Advertisement The same progressives who insist every child in America should be free to have an abortion or change their sex have nothing to say to the kids who need them most: urban teens falling into lives of crime and mayhem. It's neither caring nor kind to let kids run wild with no guidance, no guardrails, and few consequences to deter damaging behavior. 'A family court rehabilitation program of yoga and ice cream socials for hardened repeat offenders just doesn't cut it,' US Attorney for DC Jeanine Pirro said Tuesday. She called for an end to local laws that threw out mandatory minimum sentences for young offenders and otherwise coddle them. Advertisement In DC, 56% of all carjackings since 2023 were committed by juveniles, some as young as 12. That's had deadly consequences: In 2021, two girls aged 13 and 15 murdered a DC Uber driver during a carjacking. They were offered plea deals. Teens run wild through DC's Navy Yard, which set a juvenile curfew after a boy shot a stolen gun at a group of other kids. The MPD claims that crime is decreasing in DC, as do leftist pundits who just want to see Trump's policies fail — but in Navy Yard, violent crime is up, along with homicide, robbery and car theft. Advertisement Meanwhile in New York City, juveniles are committing increasing numbers of robberies, assaults and shootings — and other minors are often the victims. NYC saw an increase in arrests of minors for those offenses in 2024, as well as record highs of minor victims: 6,600 assaults and 1,500 robberies — while the state's Raise the Age laws shielded the young perpetrators from criminal prosecution. Is it equitable to allow teens to commit violent crimes against each other without punishment? Pirro is right: Kids who commit serious crimes must be taken seriously. The only way to protect society from their dangerous actions is to hold them accountable. We used to know this. Children and teens need limits. They need to know adults are paying attention to them and setting boundaries on their recklessness. We do teens no favors by letting them believe feral behavior can be tolerated — and we imperil society by letting these ruffians run riot in our cities. Advertisement Trump is making it clear he won't stand for it, taking federal control of DC's Metro Police Department and adding 800 National Guard troops and 500 federal law enforcement agents to beef up patrols. Safety is addictive. America's most prominent cities have bought into terrible policies that go easy on young criminals, and the kids know it. Advertisement Why do our cities care more about protecting wrongdoers from consequences than about protecting the rest of us? Keyboard warriors are complaining that Trump's MPD takeover is nothing but 'political theater,' that DC's sky-high homicide rate — 27.3 per 100,000 residents in 2024, fourth highest in the nation — isn't as bad as it was the year before. They seem to think if DC isn't literally exploding like Fallujah everything's totally fine. Trump knows the nation's capital must be a showplace, a testament to our role in world affairs and our global dominance. Advertisement Democratic Party leaders don't seem to care at all about that, or about the sad state of our murderous youth. They have abandoned them by implementing policies that stop them from taking responsibility for their actions — or even realizing that they should. If the law won't hold them to account, if their parents won't guide them, if kids keep hearing that their circumstances and not their choices are to blame for their bad behavior, then a leader must step in and take charge. Advertisement Trump is acting to save America's youth from themselves — and in doing so, he'll save America's cities, too. Libby Emmons is the editor-in-chief at the Post Millennial.
Associated Press
2 days ago
- Associated Press
In Washington police takeover, federal agents and National Guard take on new tasks
They typically investigate drug lords, weapons traffickers or cyber criminals. This week, though, federal agents are fanning out across the nation's capital as part of President Donald Trump's efforts to clamp down on crime in the city. The sometimes-masked agents joined members of the National Guard as well as the United States Park Police, whose responsibilities include protecting the country's monuments and managing crowds during demonstrations. Soldiers in fatigues kept watch near Union Station, while officers with the Drug Enforcement Administration patrolled along the National Mall. Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives helped question a couple in northwest Washington who were parked illegally and eating McDonald's takeout. Trump said Monday that he's taking over Washington's police department in hopes of reducing crime, even as city officials stressed that crime is already falling. The District of Columbia's status as a congressionally established federal district allows the president to take control, although he's limited to 30 days under statute unless he gets approval from Congress. Amid the takeover of the Metropolitan Police Department, or MPD, here's a list of some of the federal agencies involved and what they typically do: The National Guard THIS WEEK: The Pentagon said that 800 Guard members have been activated for missions in Washington that include monument security, community safety patrols and beautification efforts. Pentagon press secretary Kingsley Wilson said the troops won't be armed and declined to give more details on what the safety patrols or beautification efforts would entail. The White House said Thursday that Guard members aren't making arrests but are 'protecting federal assets, providing a safe environment for law enforcement officers to make arrests, and deterring violent crime with a visible law enforcement presence.' THE BACKSTORY: The National Guard serves as the primary combat reserve of the Army and Air Force, according to its website. But it also responds when 'disaster strikes in the homeland' to protect life and property in communities. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) THIS WEEK: DEA agents have also fanned out across Washington, working with police on traffic stops and other enforcement efforts. The agency has touted this week that its agents have helped to recover guns and drugs. THE BACKSTORY: The agency typically enforces the nation's controlled substances laws and regulations, while going after drug cartels, gangs and traffickers in the U.S. and abroad. For example, a DEA-led investigation scored a record seizure of fentanyl in May, 'dismantling one of the largest and most dangerous drug trafficking organizations in U.S. history,' the agency said in a news release. The DEA also operates a little-known research lab in northern Virginia that's working to analyze seized narcotics to find ways to stop the supply. Its chemists identify the ever-evolving tactics employed by cartels to manufacture drugs flowing into the U.S. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) THIS WEEK: Agents with Homeland Security Investigations, the investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security, could be seen on Wednesday alongside MPD officers as they conducted traffic checks at a checkpoint along 14th Street in northwest Washington. THE BACKSTORY: HSI investigates a wide variety of crimes on a global scale – at home, abroad and online – with hundreds of offices across the country and abroad. Those crimes include 'illegal movement of people, goods, money, contraband, weapons and sensitive technology into, out of and through the United States,' the agency says on its website. In the last few months, as the Trump administration has ramped up its immigration enforcement efforts across the U.S., HSI agents have been out on raids and involved in immigration arrests at courthouses and other sites around the country. HSI agents also investigate a vast array of crime, including cyber and financial crimes and intellectual property offenses. United States Park Police THIS WEEK: United States Park Police have been seen helping with traffic stops this week in the district and are a regular presence in Washington. D.C. The federal agency is actually one of the nation's oldest, being founded in 1791 by George Washington. THE BACKSTORY: The police are part of the National Park Service and has jurisdiction in all federal parks, with offices in Washington, New York and San Francisco, according to the agency's website. Before this week's takeover, it already had the authority to make an arrest in the District of Columbia. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) THIS WEEK: ATF agents have been helping out with traffic stops. THE BACKSTORY: The agency primarily focuses on the illegal use of guns and explosives, bombings and acts of terrorism, and the trafficking of illicit liquor or contraband tobacco.
