Prior Violent Felony Offender Was Caught Selling Drugs While out on Parole
A Flanders man 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.
On February 1, Andy Sukram, 33, 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 first-degree burglary and first-degree robbery, both Class B violent felonies, and served 12 years in prison. He was on parole when he was arrested in February.
On October 26, a jury convicted Sukram of two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, both Class B felonies. On December 4, he was sentenced before Supreme Court Judge Timothy P. Mazzei to 14 years in prison followed by three years of post-release supervision.
“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.”