Cocaine Cowboys-Rounded Up At Last

APR 18 -- (ALBANY, NY) John P. Gilbride, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in New York and US Attorney for the Northern District of New York Glenn T. Suddaby announced the indictments of twenty-two individuals with conspiracy to distribute cocaine and cocaine base (crack) in the Northern District of New York and elsewhere between May 2006 and January 2007.

DEA Special Agent in Charge John Gilbride stated, “ The cocaine and crack distribution group called themselves the Cocaine Cowboys, but to law enforcement they were outlaws responsible for distributing crack and powder cocaine throughout the Capital Region. Members of this distribution group were arrested this past January. DEA and our law enforcement partners rounded up their re-distributors of crack and powder cocaine this morning and they face the consequences of their actions.”

The defendants Anthony Torres, Omar Astacio, Joey Corretjer, Jr., Morris Alvarez, Sean Torres Joan Ogando-Ramirez and Jean Gonzalez have already been arraigned on this Conspiracy charge. Defendants Jermaine Ivey, Noyka Gonzalez, Jamel Broadus, Ricardo Rowley, Jason O’Hare, Gus Lynch, Ezekial McClain, Jermaine Mingo, Tashawn Vailes and Richard Duval had their initial appearance and arraignment before United States Magistrate Judge David Homer in Albany on April 16, 2007. Ivey, Gonzalez, Broadus, O’Hare and Duval are scheduled to appear for a detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Homer on April 19, 2007. Lynch, McClain, Mingo, Vailes and Rowley are scheduled to appear for a detention hearing before Magistrate Judge Homer on April 20, 2007.

Omar Astacio and Morris Alvarez have pled guilty to the charged Conspiracy before Senior United States District Court Judge Frederick J. Scullin. For the other twenty defendants, the indictment is merely an accusation and each defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

The defendants that have appeared in Court on these charges are:

Morris Alvarez, Age 23, Bronx, New York
Omar Astacio, Age 26, Bronx, New York
Joey Corretjer, Jr., Age 24, Bronx, New York
Jean C. Gonzalez, Age 26, Bronx New York
Juan Ogando-Ramirez, Age 25, Philadelphia, Pa.
Anthony Torres, Age 27, Bronx, New York
Sean Torres, Age 26, Bronx New York
Jason O’Hare, Age 31, Watervliet, New York
Gus Lynch, Age 36, Albany, New York
Jamel Broadus, Age 34, Albany, New York
Ricardo Rowley, Age 25, Albany, New York
Nyoka Gonzalez, Age 27, Albany, New York
Tashawn Vailes, Age 33, Albany, New York
Jermaine Ivy, Age 19, Albany, New York
Jermaine Mingo, 28, Troy, New York
Richard Duval, 64, Latham, New York
Ezekial McClain, Albany, New York

The maximum possible penalty for Anthony Torres, Corretjer, Sean Torres, O’Hare, Rowley, Noyka Gonzalez, Duval, Ivy, Rowley, Broadus and Ogando-Ramirez is life imprisonment and a fine of $4,000,000.00, with a statutory minimum penalty of imprisonment of 10 years.

The maximum possible penalty for Jean Gonzalez, Lynch, Vailes and Mingo is life imprisonment and a fine of $8,000,000.00, with a statutory minimum penalty of imprisonment of 20 years.

The maximum possible penalty for McClain is life imprisonment and a fine of $8,000,000.00, with a statutory minimum penalty of imprisonment for life.

The investigation that resulted in these charges was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Albany County District Attorney’s Office, New York State Police, Albany Police Department, Colonie Police Department, New York State Division of Parole, Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), Albany County Sheriff’s Office and Watervliet Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Hartunian.