Earlier this month, 41 people were indicted for allegedly running a huge cocaine delivery service from three Lower East Side public housing projects. Now some of the people accused of buying drugs from the LES street gangs are also facing charges. In Manhattan Supreme Court Friday, 16 suspected clients of the coke ring were charged with misdemeanor and felony possession. According to the Post, those arrested include money managers, a well-known artist and a bartender at the Bowery Hotel.
Judge Edward McLaughlin set bail for Alicia Elett, the hotel bartender, at $7500. “In the Lower East Side, two police officers were shot at because of drug gangs shooting each other in order to control the selling of drugs to idiots,” the judge chided the defendants. Elett is accused of buying $1200 in coke. Thomas Vanderslice, an executive with VC Independent Advisors, allegedly made purchases from the delivery services totaling $1600. Thomas Carlson of Duff & Phelps, an investment banking firm, was also charged. Bail for the men was set at $40,000 bond or $7,700 cash. Andrew Ohanesian, a Brooklyn artist, was charged with allegedly buying cocaine on four occasions.
On April 12, New York City District Attorney Cy Vance announced the indictments of 41 people on drug and conspiracy charges, residents of the Baruch, Riis and Campos Plaza projects. According to the indictment, the organization used car services to deliver cocaine to customers throughout New York City. They charged $120 a gram for the drugs, significantly more than the typical street value. The gangs allegedly sold more than $1 million in drugs during the two years that police were investigating the case. Two of the defendants are employed as livery drivers, prosecutors said. Some of the defendants used social media accounts such as Twitter and Facebook to boast about the lavish lifestyles the coke operation was affording them.
Excellent! Let the buyers be exposed as criminals! Why should only the sellers be prosecuted?