Queens North Narcotics team dismantled a selling crew operating at the Astoria Houses NYCHA complex where they all live following an 18-month investigation with the Queens DA’s office. File photo: Queens Post
Oct. 8, 2024 By Bill Parry
A Queens grand jury indicted five members of a drug crew operating out of the Astoria Houses NYCHA complex where they all lived, following a long-term investigation that included undercover buys of cocaine, ecstasy, and a firearm.
Four defendants were arraigned in Queens Supreme Court on Oct. 2. A fifth defendant, who remains at large, was arraigned on Thursday, Oct. 3.
The five men were arraigned on a 40-count indictment variously charging them with conspiracy, criminal sale of a controlled substance, and other related crimes after police from the Queens North Narcotics team executed court-authorized search and arrest warrants secured by the Queens District Attorney’s office at four separate apartments inside the Astoria Houses on Vernon Boulevard on Oct. 2.
The 18-month-long undercover operation resulted in the seizure of more than 750 Percocet and ecstasy pills, most of them laced with either fentanyl or methamphetamine and a large quantity of cocaine.
“These five defendants are accused of callously selling poison and at least one firearm out of a city-owned housing complex that is home to young children and families,” Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz said.
According to the charges, in March 2023, the NYPD Queens North Narcotics team began a long-term probe involving multiple subjects. A total of 30 buys, carried out by undercover NYPD officers over the course of 18 months, led to the purchase of 103 Percocet pills, most of which contained fentanyl; 649 ecstasy pills, most containing methamphetamine, and about 300 grams of cocaine.
The search resulted in the arrest of the four defendants as well as the seizure of a quantity of heroin and drug paraphernalia, including scales with drug residue. One of the buys took place in the nearby Ravenswood Houses.
One defendant, Darryl Sanford, 40, also allegedly sold an illegal firearm to an undercover officer.
The investigation further revealed that one of the defendants, I-Kym Jackson, 31, sold narcotics to an undercover officer while working as a NYCHA employee at the Latimer Gardens public housing complex in Flushing. He is separately charged with falsifying business records in the first degree for submitting a false timesheet to NYCHA.
“Thank you to our partners at the NYPD — including the brave undercover officers — and the city Department of Investigation as well as members of my Major Economic Crimes Bureau for their hard work on this case,” Katz said.
The four apprehended crew members were arraigned before Queens Supreme Court Justice Karen Gopee on Oct. 2, each charged with conspiracy and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
Sanford was also charged with criminal possession of a weapon for allegedly selling a firearm to an undercover officer. If convicted of the top count, Sanford faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. Co-defendant Andre Smith, 43, also faces a potential maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Jamar Howard, 38, was also charged with conspiracy and other related crimes and if convicted of the top count, faces a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.
In addition to the conspiracy charge, NYCHA employee Jackson was also charged with falsifying business records in the first degree. If convicted on the top count, Jackson faces a potential maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The fifth defendant remains unapprehended.
“These five defendants, including one NYCHA employee, trafficked narcotics in NYCHA’s Astoria Houses, where they lived, jeopardizing the safety of this residential community, according to the charges,” Department of Investigation Commissioner Jocelyn Stauber said. “I thank the Queens District Attorney’s Office and the NYPD for their partnership and commitment to keep public housing free from dangerous criminal conduct.”
Supreme Court Justice Gopee ordered the defendants to return to court on Nov. 7.
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