Fourteen Defendants Indicted on Drug Trafficking and Firearms Charges

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 28, 2006

Gun Fight Following Drug Robbery Results in the Death of a Bystander

An indictment was unsealed in U.S. District Court in Brooklyn this morning charging 14 defendants with conspiracy to distribute cocaine base (“crack”); six of those defendants are also charged with illegal firearms possession in furtherance of the drug distribution conspiracy.¹ The defendants arrested today are scheduled to be arraigned this afternoon before United States Magistrate Judge Roanne L. Mann, at the U.S. Courthouse, 225 Cadman Plaza East, Brooklyn, New York. The case is assigned to United States District Judge Dora L. Irizarry.

The charges were announced by Roslynn R. Mauskopf, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Mark J. Mershon, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Field Office, and Raymond W. Kelly, Commissioner, New York City Police Department.

During the course of the investigation, court-authorized wiretaps intercepted hundreds of conversations in which the defendants arranged for the purchase and delivery of crack cocaine, estimated to total at least 200 grams per week between approximately October 2004 and November 2005. The investigation included recorded purchases of crack cocaine by an undercover police officer and a cooperating witness, and revealed that six of the defendants regularly carried firearms, or kept them close at hand, to protect their drug trafficking activities. As set forth in a detention letter filed by the government today, MIGUEL LUCIANO frequently carried an assault rifle while engaged in crack distribution. The detention letter also details how, following the robbery of CAMERON SPENCER, JR., in August 2005 while selling crack on Central Avenue in Bushwick, SPENCER, JR. and the robber engaged in a shootout, which resulted in the death of a bystander.

Today’s indictment is part of an ongoing five-year, multi-agency investigation coordinated by the U.S. Attorney’s Office focusing on drug trafficking and illegal firearms, primarily in the Bushwick Section of Brooklyn, New York. To date, the investigation -- in which the FBI, NYPD, and Drug Enforcement Administration have participated -- has resulted in theconviction of approximately 65 individuals on charges of murder, illegal firearms possession, and narcotics trafficking, including 21 defendants associated with the Four Horsemen organization, a violent street gang that operated primarily on Decatur Street in Bushwick; 19 defendants associated with the Diaz Organization, who distributed over 100 kilograms of heroin, cocaine, crack, and MDMA between 2000 and 2002 in New York City, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey; 10 members of the Woodbine Crew, a violent heroin trafficking and robbery enterprise based in Bushwick; 10 members of a violent gang that packaged and sold drugs at, among other locations, 1223 Bushwick Avenue; and two members of the Almighty Latin Kings Nation, who sold crack from numerous drugs spots in Brooklyn. Earlier this month, the investigation resulted in the arrest of 12 members of the Schaeffer Street Crew, a street gang that for more than eight years controlled narcotics trafficking in the vicinity of Schaeffer Street between Wilson Avenue and Knickerbocker Avenue in Bushwick, responsible for distributing over $6 million worth of heroin and committing numerous narcotics-related shootings.

“Today’s arrests are part of our vigorous and ongoing efforts to eradicate drug gangs and the violence they breed,” stated United States Attorney Mauskopf. “We are committed to working with our law enforcement partners to make our communities safe places to live and work.” Ms. Mauskopf thanked the New York City Department of Investigation for its assistance, and stated that the investigation is continuing.

FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Mershon stated, “Drugs and violence go hand in hand. This case is about a criminal enterprise that pumped crack into the Bushwick community and used violence to protect its lucrative drug trade. Dismantling violent gangs is one of the FBI’s top priorities, and, one case at a time, we’re committed to working with our law enforcement partners to get rid of the gangs, get the guns off the streets, and the drugs out of our neighborhoods.”

NYPD Commissioner Kelly stated, “Multi-agency cooperation was the key to stemming the tide of drugs and violence in this neighborhood. Congratulations to the NYPD officers as well as the members of the other agencies involved in this takedown on their excellent work.”

If convicted on the drug distribution conspiracy charge, each of the 14 defendants faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in prison. If also convicted of illegal firearms possession, five of the defendants face a mandatory consecutive sentence of five years and a maximum consecutive sentence of life in prison, and SPENCER, JR. faces a mandatory consecutive sentence of 10 years and a maximum consecutive sentence of life in prison.

The government’s case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lawrence P. Ferazani, Jr. and Lee J. Freedman.

The Defendants (Drug Distribution and Illegal Firearms):

CAMERON SPENCER, Jr.
Alias: “C.J.”
DOB: 9/21/1987

MIGUEL LUCIANO
Alias: “Goti”
DOB: 3/3/1971

JAMAR CURTIS
Alias: “Snipes”
DOB: 4/21/1981

RAMEL FISHER
Alias: “Rah”
DOB: 12/23/1985

CARLOS MELENDEZ
Alias: “Cha Chi”
DOB: 3/31/1980

JOHN ROBINSON
Alias: “Star”
DOB: 2/11/1974

The Defendants (Drug Distribution)

RAYMOND SANCHEZ
Alias: “Ray Ray”
DOB: 7/17/1963

CAMERON SPENCER
Alias: “Uncle Cam”
DOB: 10/13/1961

LUIS CALDERON
Alias: “Cookie”
DOB: 9/25/1966