Six Brooklyn men were indicted Wednesday in connection to a drug trafficking ring where they were allegedly peddling crack cocaine and heroin on the streets of Bedford-Stuyvesant, authorities said.
The men, aged between 34 and 58, allegedly dealt drugs from May 2022 to Oct. 3, 2023, in the vicinity of Putnam Avenue and Nostrand Avenue in the NYPD79th Precinct. The investigation was prompted by community complaints about open-air drug dealing in the area, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
Four of the men, Lance Spearman, 43, Herbert Bazemore, 43, Larry Childress, 49, and Jermalee Reese, 53, have been charged with acting as a major trafficker and other drug-related crimes. Meanwhile, Steve Rich, 58, and Travis Davis, 34, have been charged with the criminal sale of a controlled substance and other related crimes.
“This indictment reflects our commitment to responding to complaints from concerned neighbors and to take drug dealers off our streets,” said District Attorney Eric Gonzalez in a statement. “We allege that these defendants profited from the misery of addiction while upending the sense of safety in the community where they brazenly operated.”
The investigation, conducted by investigators from the Brooklyn DA’s office and detectives with the narcotics unit in Brooklyn North, included a total of 25 undercover purchases from the six defendants.
The suspects allegedly sold various quantities of crack cocaine and heroin, which was packaged in green glassines.
Authorities made a big bust on Sept. 23 when they recovered 60 envelopes of heroin — each valued at $10 — from Bazemore’s pocket after making a car stop. Police obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and recovered an additional 590 envelopes and more than $5,000 in cash.
Police Commissioner Edward Caban issued a statement saying that the NYPD aims to take drug dealers off the streets.
“Drug trafficking is a scourge not tolerated in New York City, neither by law enforcement nor the people we serve,” Caban said. “And together with our partners at the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD will continue working toward a city whose neighborhoods are free of illegal narcotics and those who seek to profit from their proliferation.”
