Date: March 19, 2025
Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov
Syracuse, NY — Erin Rushford formerly of Cicero, New York, was sentenced today to 25 months in prison for her role in a drug trafficking organization that distributed methamphetamine in Onondaga County and elsewhere in Central New York.
United States Attorney John A. Sarcone III and Frank A. Tarentino III, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Division, made the announcement.
As part of her prior guilty plea, Rushford admitted that from approximately February 2020 through April 2021, she participated in a conspiracy to transport methamphetamine from California to locations in the Northern District of New York for distribution. Rushford further admitted that she agreed to receive shipments of methamphetamine delivered to her home and the home of a relative; she delivered those packages of methamphetamine to other coconspirators for further distribution. Rushford also admitted that she herself sold methamphetamine to customers out of her residence.
Senior United States Senior District Judge David N. Hurd also ordered Rushford to serve a 3-year term of supervised release to follow her release from prison, and ordered the forfeiture of $3,160.
This case was investigated by Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), DEA, New York State Police-Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team (NYSP-VGNET), Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, Syracuse Police Department, Oklahoma City Police Department, and the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. McCrobie prosecuted the case.
IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.