A Syracuse federal jury convicted Djosaha Azulphar after pills sold as ecstasy in Plattsburgh tested as methamphetamine.

A jury conviction is a finding of guilt on the counts tried. It is not a sentence. On the conspiracy and possession-with-intent counts, the statutory range is a mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. Those numbers are exposure until U.S. District Judge Elizabeth C. Coombe sentences Djosaha Azulphar on Jan. 5, 2027. The U.S. Attorney's Office said laboratory testing showed the pills sold as ecstasy were methamphetamine, and that is the account the jury accepted as the office summarized the verdict.

On Friday, Oct. 2, 2026, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of New York announced that a federal jury in Syracuse found Djosaha Azulphar, also known as T, guilty after a four-day trial last week. Azulphar, 28, is a Haitian national and a lawful permanent resident. The office said the jury convicted him of distribution of controlled substances, conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Sentencing is set for Jan. 5, 2027, before U.S. District Judge Elizabeth C. Coombe. A guilty verdict is a finding of guilt. It is not the sentence.

According to the office, the evidence showed that on April 14, 2026, Azulphar distributed 50 grams of cocaine and 30 pills purported to be ecstasy to a DEA informant in Plattsburgh, New York. On April 21, 2026, the office said, he met the informant in Plattsburgh to distribute more than 3 kilograms of purported ecstasy. Co-defendant Deontae Alexander held the pills across the street while Azulphar negotiated, and both men were arrested. Laboratory testing showed the pills were methamphetamine, not ecstasy, the office said.

The conspiracy and possession-with-intent counts carry a statutory mandatory minimum of 10 years and a maximum of life. That range is exposure, not the sentence Judge Coombe will impose on Jan. 5. The office said Alexander previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute, with sentencing set for Nov. 10, 2026. He faces up to 20 years, which is also exposure, not a term already imposed. The Oct. 2 announcement is the conviction. Jan. 5 is the sentencing date. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.