Chester man pleads guilty in drug trafficking case

On Tuesday, September 10, Antonio Bucci, 29, of Chester, pled guilty in Orange County Court to operating as a major trafficker, Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler announced. Under the plea agreement, Hoovler’s team will recommend that he be sentenced to 10 years in prison when he is sentenced on November 13, 2024.

The arrest came after a year-long investigation into cocaine trafficking in and around Chester conducted by the New York State Police, the Orange County Drug Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. As part of the investigation, the District Attorney’s Office was able to use court-ordered eavesdropping and search warrants, the latter of which were executed at residences in the village of Chester and the Bronx. The search warrants allegedly yielded over one kilogram of cocaine, about $36,000, and four loaded handguns. According to Hoovler, Bucci was accused of acting as a director of a controlled substance organization that sold cocaine and such sales exceeded $75,000 over a period of less than a year.

Tyler and Lester Zaborski allegedly participated in a conspiracy to provide cocaine to be distributed in Orange County. James Baltimore also allegedly participated in the conspiracy to distribute cocaine and was in possession of loaded firearms during the execution of the search warrants.

At the plea proceedings, Bucci admitted that he acted as a “director of a controlled substance organization during any period of 12 months or less, during which period such controlled substance organization did sell one or more controlled substances, to wit: cocaine, and the proceeds collected or due from such sale or sales had a total aggregate value of $75,000 or more.”

“This conviction, which is the 15th ‘Operating as a Major Trafficker’ case handled by my office, stands as a testament to our commitment to making and keeping our community safe,” said Hoovler. “I commend the New York State Police, the Orange County Drug Task Force, and other law enforcement agencies for working together with my office during the course of this investigation. I will continue to prioritize and dedicate resources to long-term drug investigations to root out those individuals responsible for the trafficking of large quantities of narcotics in Orange County. We will use all of the legal resources available to us to conduct these investigations and bring these offenders to justice.”

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Janine Kovacs, who also aided in the investigation.