Ithaca man sentenced to 15 years on drug charge

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AUBURN, NY (607NewsNow) – An Ithaca man will spend time in state prison.

On January 20, 38-year-old Zachary Jackson was sentenced to 15 years behind bars in Cayuga County on a charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

According to the Cayuga County District Attorney’s Office, as part of a guilty plea on August 27, 2025, Jackson admitted to possessing more than four ounces of cocaine during a traffic stop in Auburn on November 19, 2024. Later that day, police searched Jackson’s home in Ithaca, where they found a kilogram of cocaine and a handgun.

Jackson was sentenced as a predicate violent felony offender due to a previous felony assault conviction in New York State. His 15-year term is determinate.

As a condition of his sentencing, he will also be subject to 5 years of post-release supervision and was ordered to forfeit $37,134 in cash recovered during execution of the search warrants.

The investigation was conducted by the Finger Lakes Drug Task Force, with assistance from the Auburn Police Department, the New York State Police, the Cayuga County Sheriff’s Office, the Ithaca Police Department, and the U.S. DEA.

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