United States Drug Enforcement Administration

WHITE PLAINS, NY. - Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division United States Drug Enforcement Administration JOHN P. GILBRIDE and U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York today announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging 26 members of a Rockland County drug trafficking ring with federal narcotics charges. The Indictment alleges that the ring distributed more than 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in and around Rockland County.

Manhattan U.S. Attorney PREET BHARARA said: “When more than a ton of marijuana is smuggled into our neighborhoods and sold on our streets, it has a terrible impact on the safety and quality of life for all members of the community. As this case demonstrates, our efforts to eradicate illegal drugs from our cities, towns, and villages are unrelenting. We will continue working with the DEA and local law enforcement to identify, arrest, and prosecute drug dealers who profit by damaging our community.”

DEA Special Agent-in-Charge JOHN P. GILBRIDE said: “This operation successfully dismantled a large distribution organization that was smuggling marijuana from the Southwest region across the United States into New York. Marijuana is the most widely abused drug in the United States and large scale trafficking organizations continue to reap huge profits from its distribution. Law enforcement will not sit idly by while those whose intent is to profit by putting illegal drugs on our streets.”

According to the Indictment unsealed today in White Plains federal court:

From May 2006 through January 2011, a drug trafficking organization referred to in the Indictment as the “Foote Organization,” obtained and distributed over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana in and around Spring Valley, Ramapo, Clarkstown, Mount Vernon, and the Bronx, New York, among other locations.

Certain core members of the organization, including DUNSTON FOOTE, a/k/a “Killa,” RODNEY MUSHINGTON, a/k/a “Mark Brown,” STEVEN RICHARD, a/k/a “Troy,” and FNU LNU, a/k/a “Frankie,” frequently traveled to obtain supplies of marijuana, transported the marijuana to, among other places, stash houses and sale locations in Rockland County, distributed the marijuana to other members of the organization to sell, and collected, distributed, and/or disposed of the proceeds from the sale of the marijuana. Certain associates of the core members, including MORRIS JACKSON, a/k/a “Cat,” JOSE LUISE ALOMAR, a/k/a “McGiva,” PATRICK THOMAS, a/k/a “Blacks,” IAN SMITH, a/k/a “Chiggs,” CONRAD DESLANDERS, a/k/a “Liar,” HENRY SAPPLETON, a/k/a “Sam,” and ROBERT BLACKWOOD, a/k/a “Quarter,” arranged for and assisted with obtaining and transporting large quantities of marijuana for the core members and frequently used mail services to send and receive large quantities of marijuana for the core members.

The core members supplied marijuana to a network of people for further distribution in and around Rockland County and elsewhere, and collected proceeds from the sale of those narcotics from them. This “distribution network” included CLOVAL TAYLOR, a/k/a “Clove,” NATALIE BROWN, a/k/a “Danisha,” DEBORAHGRIFFITH, FITZROY NORRIS KELLY, a/k/a “Ants,” TROY MONTGOMERY, a/k/a “Scrapie,” DROMYNEAK MONTGOMERY, a/k/a “Drommie,” KENMAR CHAMBERS, a/k/a “Black,” SOPHIA JONES, a/k/a “Bridget,” SOPHIA MOORE, JASON ALLEN, ZOLANI WORREL, HEROLD LUMA, MICHAELANGE ZAMOR, a/k/a “Mickey,” DERRICK GARWOOD, a/k/a “Bingy,” and RUGHENS DESVARIEUX, a/k/a “Raymond.”

Beginning last night and continuing through this morning, approximately 200 federal and local law enforcement officers made arrests and conducted searches in connection with the Indictment and investigation, primarily in Spring Valley, Ramapo, Mount Vernon, and the Bronx, New York.

Law enforcement agencies involved in the case include members of the DEA, the Westchester County Drug Enforcement Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service for the Southern District of New York, the U.S. Postal Service, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement/ Office of Enforcement and Removal Operations in Castle Point, New York, the Spring Valley Police Department, the Ramapo Police Department, the Clarkstown Police Department, the Suffern Police Department, the New York State Police Department, the Rockland County District Attorney’s Office, and the Rockland County Intelligence Center.

The arrested defendants are expected to be arraigned this afternoon in White Plains federal court before a Magistrate indictment with conspiring to distribute 1,000 kilograms and more of marijuana. If convicted, the defendants all face maximum sentences of life and mandatory sentences of ten years in prison on Count One.

Mr. BHARARA praised the investigative work of the DEA and the other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies involved in the case. He added that the investigation is continuing.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys ANNA M. SKOTKO and REBECCA MERMELSTEIN are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.