Three Monroe County men were charged federally Tuesday after investigators said they seized nearly 30 kilograms of cocaine, about $159,000 in cash and four guns in a Rochester-area drug case. The men — Rodney Stanley, Leonardo Gaskin and Shanimba Nelson — are accused of storing, packaging and distributing cocaine and collecting payment for it.
The seizure was not the work of a single search. It came from separate warrants executed on Oct. 9 at homes tied to the men, and the numbers add up across those locations: about 23 kilograms of suspected cocaine at Gaskin’s home and vehicle, 3.677 kilograms at Nelson’s home and 1.23 kilograms at Stanley’s home, along with cash, cellphones and guns. That spread matters because it points to a wider operation moving drugs through more than one address in Monroe County rather than one isolated stash house.
Gaskin drew particular attention because investigators said his vehicle was seen heading to the Philadelphia area on Oct. 8, staying for about 15 minutes and then returning overnight to his home. A short trip like that can fit a supply run when the purpose is not a visit but a handoff, pickup or exchange, which is the kind of travel pattern prosecutors often look for in narcotics cases. Authorities searched his home and vehicle the next day and said they found three cellphones, $4,857 in cash and drug paraphernalia in addition to the cocaine.
Nelson’s search turned up a loaded shotgun, $8,209 in cash and drug paraphernalia, while Stanley’s home search uncovered a loaded pistol and $51,129 in cash. Nelson and Stanley were also charged with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Gaskin was held after a detention hearing, while Nelson and Stanley were released on conditions.
Michael DiGiacomo said the men crossed state lines to secure multiple kilograms of cocaine and kept it in stash houses embedded in residential neighborhoods before pushing it onto local streets. The question now is not whether the case is serious — the seizures answer that — but how far the alleged operation reached before investigators moved in and whether the Philadelphia-area trip was part of a routine supply line or the last known delivery before the bust.
