Crime Bedford-Stuyvesant

22 charged with drug trafficking following undercover investigation at Roosevelt Houses

June 20, 2014 From Brooklyn District Attorney's office
Ken Thompson oversaw an enormous drug bust that netted 22 arrests
Ken Thompson oversaw an enormous drug bust that netted 22 arrests
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 Kings County District Attorney Kenneth P. Thompson, together with New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, on Thursday announced that 22 alleged drug dealers have been variously charged in multiple indictments and criminal complaints with selling crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana to undercover officers over the past year during an anti-drug initiative at the Eleanor Roosevelt Houses in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

“We will not tolerate the sale of illegal drugs anywhere in Brooklyn, especially drug dealing near schools that our young children attend,” District Attorney Thompson said. “We will bring to justice those who subjected the many honest and hardworking people who live in the Roosevelt Houses to drug dealing and the violence that inevitably follows such illegal activity.”

“With the arrests and indictments announced today, the residents of the Eleanor Roosevelt Houses no longer have to share the hallways and lobbies with the individuals who were responsible for the drug dealing that occurred there,” Commissioner Bratton said.  “I want to thank the detectives assigned to the Major Case Unit of our Brooklyn North Narcotics Division and our law enforcement partners from the King’s County District Attorney’s Office for their collaborative efforts and interests in keeping the streets of Brooklyn safe.”

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The investigation began in April 2013 following community complaints about narcotics trafficking in and around the Roosevelt Houses, located in Bedford-Stuyvesant, and bordered by Pulaski Street, Marcus Garvey Boulevard, Kosciuszko Street and Stuyvesant Avenue. The majority of the defendants reside in the housing development which they are alleged to have turned into a drug market. 

Over the course of the investigation, undercover officers made approximately 213 buys of crack cocaine, heroin and marijuana from 22 defendants, including one defendant who allegedly sold from inside the King of Pulaski deli located at 333 Pulaski St. All of the buys were made within 1,000 feet of the following schools: P.S. 81 (Thaddeus Stevens School), located at Stuyvesant Avenue and Kosciusko Street; New Beginnings Charter School, located at Lewis Avenue and Hart Street; and The Brighter Choice Community School, located at Pulaski Street and Marcus Garvey Boulevard.

Seventeen of the defendants were arrested yesterday, five others remain at large. Those charged by indictment were arraigned this morning before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Wayne M. Ozzi. Those arrested on criminal complaints were arraigned last night and this morning in Brooklyn Criminal Court. In addition, police executed five search warrants yesterday and among the items seized were a loaded .44-caliber Ruger and a loaded .25-caliber pistol

The defendants are variously charged in the indictment with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds, a B felony punishable by up to nine years in prison; criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree, a class B felony punishable by up to nine years in prison; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree, a B felony punishable by up to nine years in prison; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree, an A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in prison; or criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree, an A misdemeanor punishable by up to one year in jail.

The investigation was conducted by New York City Police Department Detective William Warren of the Brooklyn North Narcotics Squad, Major Case Team, under the supervision of Lieutenant William Buchanan and the overall supervision of Captain Fernando Guimaraes.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alissa Rodriguez, of the District Attorney’s Major Narcotics Investigations Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Maria Linares, Bureau Chief and Assistant District Attorney Marc Fliedner, Chief, and the overall supervision of Executive Assistant District Attorney William E. Schaeffer, Chief of Investigations.

 

Defendants Charged By Indictment and In Custody:

 

Vaughan Allen — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (9 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (9 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (9 counts) and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count).

 

Lavar Coard — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (5 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (5 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (5 counts); and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count).

 

Barry Daniels — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (1 count); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (1 count); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (1 count); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (2 counts).

 

Maria Gang — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (3 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (3 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (3 counts); and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count).

 

Jevell A. Jenkins — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (25 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (25 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (25 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (3 counts).

 

Johnny Joubert — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (2 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (2 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (2 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (6 counts).

 

Jamel Lane — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (17 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (17 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance third-degree (17 counts); and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 counts).

 

Marion Leach — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (6 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (6 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (6 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (4 counts).

 

Dean Rivera — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (5 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (5 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (5 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (19 counts).

 

Felicia Stribling — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (5 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (5 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of  marihuana in the fourth-degree (2 counts).

 

John Whichard — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (12 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (12 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (12 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count); and criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (3 counts).

 

Leon Whichard — Charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds (3 counts); criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third-degree (3 counts); criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third-degree (3 counts); and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh-degree (1 count).

 

 

Defendants Charged In Criminal Complaints and In Custody:

 

Davon Flunory — Charged with criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (2 counts).

 

Jonathan Gonzalez — Charged with criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (4 counts).

 

Elias Joubert — Charged with criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (5 counts).

 

Shawn Keitt — Charged with criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (19 counts).

 

Namel Colon — Charged with criminal sale of marihuana in the fourth-degree (5 counts).

 


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