‘Operation Final Blow’ Leads To Guilty Plea Of Major Trafficker: DA

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Friday that 49-year-old Andrew Mitchell, a/k/a “Loc,” of Chester, pleaded guilty in Orange County Court to operating as a major trafficker.

Mitchell was arrested after “Operation Final Blow,” an over four-month-long investigation aiming to disrupt major narcotics trafficking in the City of Port Jervis and surrounding areas, including Pike County, Pennsylvania. The investigation was first started by the City of Port Jervis Police Department, the Orange County Drug Task Force, the New York State Police Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, the Pike County Criminal Investigations Division of the Pike County District Attorney’s Office, and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office. It included the use of court-ordered eavesdropping, as well as the execution of 17 search warrants.

Search warrants resulted in the seizure of around two kilograms of cocaine, 74 grams of heroin, 165 grams of fentanyl, 1,600 ecstasy pills and 235 pills containing oxycodone, seven illegally possessed firearms and $153,690. In addition, 11 cars, four motorcycles and two ATVs were also taken into evidence.

During plea proceedings, Mitchell admitted that, “acting as a profiteer, he sold, on one or more occasions within six months or less, cocaine, and the proceeds collected or due from such sale or sales had a total aggregate value of seventy-five thousand dollars ($75,000) or more.”

After his guilty plea, it was recommended that Mitchell be sentenced to 13 years in prison, followed by five years post-release supervision. He will be sentenced on December 6. Mitchell will also be required to forfeit two luxury vehicles as proceeds of his crimes.

“The consistent results we see in long-term drug investigations are a testament to the dedication of the assigned police and prosecutors,” Hoovler said. “My Office remains laser-focused on the investigation and prosecution of high-ranking drug dealers who spread their poison in Orange County. Operation Final Blow helped to disrupt the flow of narcotics being trafficked in the western part of Orange County by bringing the higher-level dealers, including this defendant, to justice. I commend the cooperation amongst the varied law enforcement agencies who conducted a careful investigation that led to the conviction of this defendant.”

Hoovler thanked all the state, local and federal law enforcement officials who aided in the investigation and eventual arrest of Mitchell.

The investigation was assisted by the Town of Deerpark Police Department, the City of Middletown Police Department, the Town of Wallkill Police Department, the Pennsylvania State Police, the New Jersey State Police, the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office, the Sussex County Guns, Gang and Narcotics Taskforce, and the Sussex County Prosecutor’s Office. Federal agencies who aided in the operation included Homeland Security Investigations, the FBI’s Safe Streets Taskforce and the United States Marshall’s Service Fugitive Task Force.