NEW YORK – Thirteen people have been
indicted and charged with conspiring to distribute heroin from New York
City into Orange, Sullivan and Nassau counties, as well as Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania.
Three of those arrested are from Newburgh; two are from Monticello. The
Newburgh residents are identified as Jerome Turnbough, 55, Devonna Barreras,
also known as Creechbarreras, 22, and 44-year-old Eddie Cullins.
The Monticello residents are Jamaul Aziz, 34 and 22-year-old Gilbert Maxi.
The joint investigation between the State Attorney General’s Organized
Crime Task Force and the State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement
Team was dubbed “Operation Iron Horse” because much of the
trafficked heroin was transported on Metro-North trains.
The kingpin in the operation, as outlined in an indictment unsealed in
Orange County Court on Thursday, was Brian Bacon, also known as “The
Prime Minister,” 52, of the Bronx.
The indictment alleged that Bacon sold up to a kilogram of heroin per
month with assistance from his son, Tamar Dillard, and his girlfriend,
Donna Marie Haggans, who were integral to the packaging and delivery of
the drug to customers and resellers, as well as the handling of money.
Bacon was also allegedly assisted by Wallace Walker of the Bronx, the
self-styled “quality control officer,” who distributed heroin
to third parties, who would test and then rate the quality, and permit
Bacon to gauge how much he could “cut” it and the price he
should charge.
As alleged, Bacon regularly sent his son, Dillard, to take the Metro-North
train from Harlem to deliver the drugs to Turnbough in Newburgh. Turnbough
also allegedly traveled by bus between the Port Authority Bus Terminal
in Manhattan and Pittsburgh, where the heroin was distributed.
Bacon also allegedly had two suppliers – an as-yet unidentified
man and Raymos Bertrand, 43, of the Bronx. The main resellers allegedly
supplied by Bacon were Turnbough, Roderick Copeland from Manhattan, Aziz
of Monticello, and Kenneth Parris, 42, of Uniondale.
