(Photo Source: Stephen Yang/The Cortland Voice).
A Village of McGraw man accused of drug possession and threatening a witness pleaded guilty in Cortland County Court on Tuesday.
Chester L. Burdick, who was in line for a jury trial last fall, pleaded guilty to third-degree intimidating a witness/victim and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
According to court documents, Burdick’s previous charges included:
- Three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance
- Fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance
- Second-degree criminal possession of cannabis
- Two counts of second-degree criminally using drug paraphernalia
Burdick was arrested on Dec. 1 and Dec. 8 in 2022.
According to a Cortland County Sheriff’s Office report on Burdick’s Dec. 1 (2022) arrest, the county drug task force executed a search warrant at a residence in McGraw.
The report stated the task force found that Burdick was in possession of an ounce of crystal meth, eight grams of cocaine, 46 bags of fentanyl, 68 strips of sublingual strips, 19 pills containing buprenorphine, 40 pills containing amphetamine, packaging materials, scales and an undisclosed amount of money.
The Dec. 8 arrest involved Burdick intimidating a witness/victim that stemmed from the Dec. 1 arrest and investigation.
According to court docs, Burdick “attempted to coerce” the victim to lie to his attorney and to the judge that the victim “secreted the drugs” and “did not buy drugs” from Burdick.
Court docs added that Burdick told the victim that “nothing bad would happen” to the victim or the victim’s family, if the victim did what Burdick demanded. This caused the fear of harm for the victim and the victim’s family.
Burdick’s sentencing for Tuesday’s guilty plea has yet to be determined.
Burdick was recently dealt more charges following a Dec. 22 (2023) arrest. According to the arrest report, he was allegedly found with $8,000 worth of drugs, including fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine, methadone, a synthetic cathinone (also known as molly) and psilocybin. He was also in possession of packaging material, scales and an undisclosed amount of money.
Burdick was charged with two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a Class-B Felony), fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a Class-D Felony), two counts of seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (a Class-A Misdemeanor) and an unlawful sale, possession and/or use of dangerous substances or synthetic drugs (a Class-A Misdemeanor).
Further details on Burdick’s Dec. 22 arrest remain to be seen.
