A Johnstown man was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison after pleading guilty to a felony drug charge on Wednesday, the Fulton County District Attorney’s Office said in a release.

Branden B. Canty, 40, appeared before Judge Traci DiMezza and admitted to one count of second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-II felony. He was sentenced as a second felony offender to 7.5 years in prison, followed by five years of post-release supervision.

Prosecutors said Canty was arrested Aug. 12, 2024, after bringing 7.26 ounces of cocaine into the town of Johnstown. He was taken into custody by members of the Fulton County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the Gloversville Police Department. The New York State Police Forensic Lab also supported the case, according to the release.

The prosecution was handled by Assistant District Attorney Brittany A. White.

Maliah Mosher, 3, of Gloversville enjoys a cup of ice cream at Udderly Delicious on Route 30 on a recent day.

091825-FOTO-ICECREAM-PRB-1.jpg

President Donald Trump speaks after signing an executive order regarding TikTok in the Oval Office at the White House, Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025, in Washington.

FILE - FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 3, 2017, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation."

FBI Director James Comey pauses as he testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, May 3, 2017, before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing: “Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.”

NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s unprecedented retribution campaign against his perceived political enemies reached new heights as his Justice Department brought criminal charges against a longtime foe and he expanded his efforts to classify certain liberal groups as “domestic terrorist organizations.”

Days after Trump publicly demanded action from his attorney general and tapped his former personal lawyer to serve as the top federal prosecutor in Virginia, former FBI Director James Comey, a longtime target of Trump’s ire, was indicted by a grand jury for allegedly lying to Congress during testimony in 2020.

Hours earlier Thursday, Trump signed a memorandum directing his Republican administration to target backers of what they dubbed “left-wing terrorism” as he alleged without evidence a vast conspiracy by Democrat-aligned nonprofit groups and activists to finance violent protests.

The developments marked a dramatic escalation of the president’s extraordinary use of the levers of presidential power to target his political rivals and his efforts to pressure the Justice Department to pursue investigations — and now prosecutions — of those he disdains. It’s a campaign that began soon after Trump returned to office and one that critics see as an abuse of power that puts every American who dares to criticize the president at risk of retaliation.

“Donald Trump has made clear that he intends to turn our justice system into a weapon for punishing and silencing his critics,” said Sen. Mark Warner of Virginia, the top Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee. The Comey indictment came less than a week after Trump installed a former White House aide and confidant to the role of U.S. attorney in the Eastern District of Virginia. The president had forced the ouster of his previous pick because he wasn’t sufficiently responsive to calls from Trump to bring charges against his longtime targets.

“This kind of interference is a dangerous abuse of power,” Warner said. “Our system depends on prosecutors making decisions based on evidence and the law, not on the personal grudges of a politician determined to settle scores.”

The first........

© The Leader Herald