A Falconer woman will go to prison after admitting sex trafficking drug addicts and selling drugs.

Cora Waddington, 25, was arraigned before U.S. District Judge John L. Sinatra, Jr., U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross said. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl. 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and obtaining financial gain from human trafficking. The charges carry a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum penalty of life.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Joshua A. Violanti and Maeve E. Huggins, who prosecuted the case, stated that between October and December 2022, Waddington conspired with Zaid Mendoza, aka Diamond, and Kelvin O. Thomas to run a sex trafficking operation. He uses two drug addicted victims.

Waddington, Mendoza and Thomas sheltered the victims at a residence on W. Main Street in Falconer and provided them with food, clothing and daily amounts of heroin and fentanyl in exchange for performing commercial sex acts for money. The proceeds went to Mendoza, who then supplied Waddington with clothing, food, spending money, heroin and methamphetamine.

Through force and threat of force, the victims performed commercial sex acts in both “outcalls” at the residence on W. Main Street and “outcalls.” Waddington transported victims to “calls.” Waddington, Mendoza and Thomas used the website Skipthegames.com to convince customers of the sex trafficking scheme.

Waddington was also the organizer, leader, manager and supervisor of Mendoza’s drug trafficking operation. He supplied heroin, fentanyl and methamphetamine to the victims as well as Mendoza’s other drug customers. In October 2022, law enforcement stopped Waddington’s vehicle, which had Mendoza as a passenger. Waddington had an outstanding warrant and was arrested. Officers seized methamphetamine from Mendoza and a bag of fentanyl from Mendoza.

On December 7, 2022, a search warrant was executed at the residence on West Main Street, during which cash, drug paraphernalia, a semi-automatic handgun, and multiple baggies of narcotics were seized.

The allegation is the result of an investigation by the Jamestown Police Department Metro Drug Task Force under the direction of Chief Timothy Jackson; Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Office County Drug Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James Quattrone; Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Matthew Miraglia; Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Erin Keegan; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Bryan Miller of the New York Field Division; the Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarantino III of the New York Field Division; and the Ellicott Township Police Department, under the direction of Chief William Ohnmeiss Jr.

This effort is part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. Using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach, OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at:

This investigation is also supported by the Western New York Human Trafficking Task Force, a multidisciplinary task force that brings together law enforcement and social service agencies to detect and investigate human trafficking using a victim-centered and trauma-informed response. effort.

Sentencing is scheduled for May 13, 2025, before Judge Sinatra.