District attorney sues for drug deal proceeds
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Chautauqua County’s District Attorney is asking the state Supreme Court to compel a man who pleaded guilty to a weapons charge in 2023 to turn over civil forfeiture money to the county.
Schmidt filed a suit in state Supreme Court on Wednesday asking the court to require Draonn D. Richardson-Copeland to turn over $3,261, or a monetary judgment that would eventually pay that amount to the District Attorney’s office, as well as court costs.
“By virtue of the foregoing facts, the defendant is liable to the plaintiff, in its capacity as claiming authority, for the forfeiture of $3,261, or in the alternative, for a money judgement in the amount of $3,261, which sum is equivalent in value to the proceeds and/or substituted proceeds of defendant’s criminal activity,” the court filing states.
Schmidt said Richardson-Copeland had been selling drugs from his home at 73 E. Front St., Dunkirk, prior to Sept. 8, 2023, that included the sale of cocaine, fentanyl and methamphetamine. A search warrant was executed on the home on Sept. 8, 2023, by Dunkirk police officers and Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputies, with Richardson-Copeland charged with fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, both class C felonies. Officers, according to Schmidt’s court filing last week, seized 2.89 grams of fentanyl, 2.18 grams of methamphetamine, digital scales, a money counter and a .380 caliber pistol. In total, officers also seized $3,261 in cash.
Richardson ended up pleading guilty to second-degree attempted criminal possession of a weapon in Chautauqua County Court on Dec. 13, 2024, and agreed to forfeit the $3,261 that was seized to the county as part of the plea agreement because the money was gained through criminal activity. Richardson-Copeland was sentenced to 2.5 years in state prison on March 3, 2025.
“At the time of the sentence on March 3, 2025, the stipulation and forfeiture agreement for the $3,261 was not executed by Richardson-Copeland,” Schmidt’s court filing states.
In Chautauqua County, civil and criminal asset forfeiture funds, handled by the Chautauqua County District Attorney's Office and the Chautauqua County Sheriff's Office, are funneled into restricted accounts to support local law enforcement operations.
Claiming authorities, typically district attorneys' offices, and claiming agents, typically police departments and sheriffs' offices, are required to report to DCJS the value of assets seized and the distribution of those assets under a specific formula outlined in state law. Upon conclusion of a case, asset forfeiture proceeds are distributed to claiming authorities, claiming agents and the state Office of Addiction Services and Supports (OASAS).
State law permits local officials to use forfeiture proceeds to fund investigations and prosecutions, reimburse agencies for the purchase of contraband during an investigation and pay restitution, among other expenses. The law does not require agencies to report to DCJS how they spent asset forfeiture funds they received.
According to a recent report from the state Division of Criminal Justice, the Chautauqua County District Attorney’s Office had a total value of assets forfeited of $57,140.26. Of that amount, $8,571 went to the District Attorney’s Office, $2,857.01 went to claiming agents like local police departments, $18,284.88 went to the state OASAS office, $20,570.49 went to “General Fund-Investigations” and $6,856.83 went to “General Fund-Prosecutions.”