Local Drug Dealer Named ‘Bam-Bam’ Resentenced

A Hudson Valley drug dealer with a host of drug-related arrests had his jail term significantly shortened.

On Thursday in Sullivan County Court, 43-year-old Robert "Bam-Bam" Jones of Monticello was resentenced to 24 years in prison for first and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

In 2005, a jury found Jones guilty of possessing 12 ounces of cocaine and over 60 decks of heroin, a combined street value of over $40,000. At the time Jones was considered one of the biggest drug dealers in Sullivan County.

In 2006, a Sullivan County judge found Jones to be a persistent felony offender and he was sentenced as a three strikes criminal to 25 years to life in prison.

Jones contested his treatment as a persistent felony offender and argued that the Rockefeller Drug Law Reform Act eliminated persistent felony offender and three strikes treatment for drug offenders. Jones won his case, resulting in the resentencing.

"I strongly disagree with the elimination of three strikes treatment for drug offenders, especially in a climate where dangerous drugs are wreaking so much havoc on our communities - ripping apart families and destroying lives. I think the legislature needs to revisit this issue,” Sullivan County District Attorney Jim Farrell said in a press release. "Permitting someone like Jones, who had four prior drug related convictions and adjudications with various sentences including probation, county jail, prison time and parole is just plain wrong and not having the courage to hold these repeat offenders fully accountable for all the harm they do to our communities is short sighted and is certainly counterproductive in our continuing fight with the opiate epidemic we find ourselves in the midst of right now. Drug dealers like Jones, whose only goal is to sell drugs and get people hooked on their poison, and who do so repeatedly, deserve to be put away for life.”

• Hudson Valley Hoops Star NBA Dreams Now a Reality
• Hudson Valley Man Accused of Sexually Assaulting Ex-Girlfriend In Beacon
• Bobcat Spotted in The Hudson Valley
• Orange County Choppers Honors Local Police Department
• Police Continue Searching Tennessee Fugitives Around Hudson Valley
• Hudson Valley Man Arrested Again on Rape Charges

Here are this weeks top 5 local stories, including a local resident being diagnosed with Zika virus, and a local school bus driver who was allegedly found with child porn