Photo Courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of NY
Alleged Bully gang member Derrick Ayers enjoys the fruits of his labor—a brand new Range Rover purchased with drug proceeds.
By Forum Staff
Two criminal complaints have been unsealed in Brooklyn federal court charging 11 members and associates of the Bully street gang with crimes related to conspiracies to distribute drugs throughout Maine and in New York, smuggling drugs into Rikers Island, illegal weapons possession and money laundering, federal prosecutors announced Thursday.
The initial appearances of six defendants arrested in Brooklyn and New Jersey—alleged Bully gang member Derrick Ayers and gang associates Bermon Clarke, Amy Sonnenblick, Nia Govan, Paul Harris and Queens resident Anthony Kennedy—were Thursday afternoon. Defendant Amanda Walton was arrested in Maine. Defendant Amanda Huard is currently not in custody. The remaining defendants were previously incarcerated.
According to the complaints, Ayers, 33, Clarke, 28, Govan, 29, Huard, 38, Jessica Pelkey, 26, Walton, 31, and Demettrius Wright, 22, are members of a drug ring operating in New York, Maine and elsewhere.
The organization trafficked crack, heroin, and other controlled substances using vehicles with hidden compartments and “trap” houses in Maine to store and sell narcotics.
As alleged, the drug trafficking proceeds were deposited into various bank accounts, including an account controlled by Sonnenblick, 48, who is employed as a paraprofessional by the City Department of Education, as is Clarke. Sonnenblick then transferred the drug money to her co-conspirators. In addition to laundering proceeds through bank deposits and wire transfers, drug proceeds were also laundered through the acquisition of vehicles, including a Range Rover purchased by Sonnenblick and used by Ayers.
As charged in the related complaint, Moeleek Harrell, 30, the founder of the Bully gang and currently an inmate at Rikers Island, coordinated with associates Kennedy, 34, and Harris, 31, to smuggle 5-Fluoro MDMB-Pica, a Schedule I controlled substance commonly referred to as “K2,” into the jail. Law enforcement officers recovered multiple pages of a court transcript that had been soaked in K2 and earmarked for delivery to Harrell. A subsequent search of Harrell’s cell revealed additional pages of paper from comic books that field tested positive for synthetic cannabinoid and for fentanyl and/or heroin.
During searches of premises Thursday in Maine, Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York, law enforcement officials found multiple firearms; a substantial amount of U.S. currency; drug manufacturing and packaging supplies; law enforcement paperwork pertaining to criminal investigations and narcotics believed to include marijuana, crack cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.
Ayers, Clarke, Govan, Huard, Pelkey, Walton, and Wright are charged with conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin and at least 280 grams of crack cocaine; Ayers and Clarke are charged with possessing one or more firearms in relation to the drug conspiracy; Ayers, Clarke, Govan, Sonnenblick and Walton are charged with money laundering conspiracy; and Harrell, Harris and Kennedy are charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute K2.
“Drug dealers, and those who launder their drug proceeds, destroy lives and communities and, in this case, jeopardized the safety and security of a prison,” said Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue.
