Six defendants indicted in Bedford-Stuyvesant narcotics trafficking operation

October 5, 2023 Rob Abruzzese

Corner of Putnam Avenue and Nostrand Avenue in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn—near the site of an alleged narcotics trafficking operation.
Screenshot via Google Earth

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District Attorney Eric Gonzalez and NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban announced the indictment of six individuals for their alleged involvement in a narcotics trafficking operation based in Bedford-Stuyvesant.

The charges follow a prolonged undercover investigation initiated in response to community complaints about open-air drug sales. Four of the six defendants face charges of acting as a major trafficker, an A-I felony.

“This indictment reflects our commitment to responding to complaints from concerned neighbors and to take drug dealers off our streets,” Gonzalez said. “We allege that these defendants profited from the misery of addiction while upending the sense of safety in the community where they brazenly operated.”

Commissioner Caban echoed this sentiment, stating that drug trafficking would not be tolerated in New York City.

Three defendants, Lance Spearman, Herbert Bazemore and Larry Childress, were arraigned before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Donald Leo.

Spearman was held without bail, while Childress and Bazemore faced cash bails set at $500,000 and $1 million, respectively. The court date for all defendants is set for Dec. 8, 2023.

Three more individuals will be arraigned at a later date: Jermalee Reese is charged as part of the main indictment, while Steve Rich and Travis Davis face separate indictments for criminal sale of controlled substances.

The operation allegedly spanned from May 2022 to October 2023, focusing on the vicinity of Putnam and Nostrand avenues in Bedford-Stuyvesant. A total of 25 undercover narcotics purchases were made from the defendants during the investigation, which also included physical and electronic surveillance.

On Sept. 23, 2023, police stopped Bazemore and allegedly found 60 green glassines of heroin in his pocket. A subsequent search of his car yielded an additional 590 glassines and more than $5,000 in cash, police said.