Defendant Sentenced to 5 Years in State Prison for Cocaine Possession

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Monday, March 5, 2017 Rakeem Whatley, 42, of the Village of Highland Falls, was sentenced by Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to five years in state prison and three years post-release supervision. On December 19, 2017, Whatley had pleaded guilty to the crime of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Fourth Degree, for having possessed 3.7 grams of cocaine.

At the time that Whatley pled guilty, he admitted that on March 31, 2017, he knowingly possessed the cocaine at his apartment at 467 Main Street, in the Village of Highland Falls. The cocaine was discovered when members of the Town of Highlands Police Department and the Village of Highland Falls Police Department executed a search warrant at Whatley’s apartment. Whatley had also been charged with Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree, for possessing packaging materials, which are commonly used in the drug trade.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Town of Highlands Police Department and the Village of Highland Falls Police Department for their investigation and for the arrest of Whatley.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Janine Kovacs.

“One key to successful narcotics enforcement is cooperation and coordination between various law enforcement agencies,” said District Attorney Hoovler. “Narcotics enforcement within small insular communities can be particularly challenging, but is possible when agencies share resources and information. Narcotics continue to be the number one driver of crimes throughout Orange County, and my office will continue to work with the Town of Highlands Police Department, the Village of Highland Falls Police Department, and all of our law enforcement partners, to stop the devastation to our communities caused by narcotics.”