Appellate Court Upholds Binghamton Drug Conviction

The drug conviction of a Binghamton man is being allowed to stand by the New York State Supreme Court Appellate Division.

Ralph Patterson had sought to have the warrant issued for a search of a home on Chenango Street in December of 2018 where he was found to be in possession of illegal drugs deemed invalid due to “stale” information provided to authorities by an informant.  Patterson also looked to have his conviction overturned on claims that the evidence to convict him was also "stale."

The upper court ruled all the evidence was valid and upheld Patterson’s conviction on two counts of criminal possession with the intent to sell and criminally using drug paraphernalia.

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A search of a second-floor apartment at 248 Chenango Street on December 3 of 2018 turned up about 21.6 grams of cocaine, some of it hidden in a baggie behind a picture on the wall, packaging materials and over $680 in suspected drug sale proceeds.

Patterson had been sentenced to 5-and-a-half years in New York State Prison and two years probation.