Kingston, NY— On April 30, 2024, Corena Kelley, age 30, of Kingston, NY pleaded guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, after a jury trial had begun and a witness for the Prosecution had already testified.
Kelley had previously been convicted by an Ulster County jury last fall for possession of guns and drugs and other charges. She was sentenced earlier this year to 7 1/3 to 10 years in State Prison, and is currently serving that sentence at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility.
Today’s conviction stems from a search warrant executed in her apartment in Kingston on April 6, 2022, during which the New York State Police recovered cocaine, heroin, narcotics preparation materials, and a digital scale. The Ulster County District Attorney’s Office prosecuted this case in close collaboration with the Violent Gangs Narcotics Enforcement Team (VGNET) of the New York State Police.
District Attorney Emmanuel C. Nneji said, “This abrupt change of plea in the middle of a trial reflects the prosecuting ADA’s preparation and a recognition by Corena Kelley that her days of dealing dangerous drugs are over, hopefully for good. She has single-handedly done and facilitated serious harm by drugs in this community; I hope her drug channel is now closed.”
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Tara Waters and Assistant District Attorney Luba Reznikova, who also serves as the Director of the Intimate Partner Violence Intervention Task Force. Defendant was represented by attorney Jake Kim of Orange County, NY.
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