LIBERTY, NY — On Sunday, April 23,  the Village of Liberty Police Department and the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office executed a search warrant on a motel room at the Knights Inn Motel located on State Route 52 in the Village of Liberty. The search warrant was applied for as part of an ongoing investigation surrounding narcotics activity in which individuals have overdosed on fentanyl in the Village of Liberty.

Officers and detectives executed the search warrant at approximately 6 p.m. and arrested the occupant of the room, Gerrod Prater. A search of the room revealed over 100 grams of fentanyl and crack cocaine. Additionally seized under the authority of the search warrant was items indicating narcotics distribution such as scales and packaging material. Prater was charged with two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 3rd degree by weight and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, all felonies. Prater was additionally charged with two counts of criminally using drug paraphernalia in the 2nd degree, misdemeanors. Prater was arraigned in the Town of Liberty Court and remanded to Sullivan County Jail in lieu of $30,000 cash bail, $100,000 secured bond or $200,000 partially secured bond. 

Prater was previously arrested by the Village of Liberty Police Department on March 18, after the execution of a search warrant at the Liberty Motel and charged with several felony charges of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the 3rd degree. In accordance with New York State bail reform laws,  Prater had been released on his own recognizance on those charges.