Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), George P. Beach II, the Superintendent of the New York State Police (“NYSP”), Adrian H. Anderson, Sheriff of Dutchess County, and Thomas Pape,
Acting Chief of City of Poughkeepsie Police Department, today announced the unsealing of an indictment and a complaint charging 15 defendants with allegedly engaging in the distribution of cocaine throughout southern and central New York. Twelve defendants were taken into custody today, and will be presented in White Plains federal court this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison. MALCOLM KINYON was previously arrested on the complaint, and DAVION McADAMS and ANTON MILLER remain at large.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said: “The defendants charged today allegedly used a music company, ‘Outta They League,’ as a front to run their drug trafficking business. These arrests take ‘Outta They League’ out of the business of drugs and violence. We thank the FBI, the New York State Police, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, and our many local law enforcement partners for their extraordinary partnership on this case.”
FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge William F. Sweeney said: “The average drug dealer can’t peddle his wares on the street anymore without someone seeing it, so they’ve found ways to hide their drugs and money using legitimate businesses. The one thing this group of defendants allegedly didn’t take into consideration, bank accounts don’t lie. The bad guys may think they’re being smarter than law enforcement, but our Hudson Valley Safe Streets Task Force is made up of investigators and detectives who are skilled at finding all methods of criminals hiding their crimes.”
NYSP Superintendent George P. Beach II said: “This investigation and the charges brought today against these 15 individuals are evidence of the commitment we share with our law enforcement partners in keeping dangerous drugs off our streets. I commend the members of our Special Investigations Unit, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their outstanding efforts to shut down this dangerous drug trafficking operation.”
Dutchess County Sheriff Adrian H. Anderson said: “Today was a great victory for law enforcement in Dutchess County and elsewhere by the taking of these allegedly dangerous individuals off of our streets. This country faces an ongoing drug epidemic, and being able to contribute towards ending that epidemic by helping remove some of those allegedly responsible is very gratifying. This is a perfect example of what can be achieved when Federal, State, and local law enforcement work together and I look forward to doing so again in the future.”
City of Poughkeepsie Acting Police Chief Thomas Pape said: “We are grateful for the coordinated efforts of our partners in law enforcement in bringing a successful indictment against these individuals. Mr. Bharara has once again shown that criminal activity will not be tolerated and that he will successfully coordinate efforts between federal, State and local law enforcement agencies to arrest and prosecute those responsible for crimes committed in our communities.”
As alleged in the Indictment and Complaint unsealed today in White Plains federal court
[1]:
“Outta They League,” or “OTL,” is a registered corporation that has engaged in the production of music, but in recent years has served primarily as a front used by its owner, MALCOLM KINYON, a/k/a “M.A.,” to facilitate wholesale cocaine transactions, and help launder the proceeds of those drug sales.
Those drug sales were made by KINYON and his associates, members of a criminal drug-trafficking organization that also called itself OTL. Each month, OTL distributed multiple kilograms of cocaine in and around Poughkeepsie, New York, and to other locations in southern and central New York. Individual OTL members and associates, including BRIAN BOWMAN, a/k/a “Pony,” AARON HARDY, ANDREW HARDY, NICHOLAS LEYVA, a/k/a “Stay High,” a/k/a “Stay,” DAVION McADAM, a/k/a “Goat,” DANTE McNAIR, a/k/a “Tay,” JAQUAN McNAIR, a/k/a “Quannie,” a/k/a “Drugs,” ANTON MILLER, a/k/a “Anton Singleton,” a/k/a “Nord,” DANIEL SPOTARDS, a/k/a “D,” VAUGHN STOKES, a/k/a “Qua,” and BRYAN WHITTLE, a/k/a “B,” a/k/a “Tall B,” obtained wholesale quantities of this cocaine typically on a consignment basis from OTL’s leader, KINYON. These cocaine distributors would resell the cocaine they obtained from KINYON, and use the bulk of the proceeds from those sales to pay KINYON for the cocaine KINYON provided. KINYON would then reinvest those proceeds in further supplies of cocaine, which he would again provide to the other OTL members and associates.
Despite the negligible amounts of income derived from music, a bank account maintained by OTL received in excess of one million dollars from between in or around June 2013 through in or around January 2016. Most of the funds that passed through that account represented proceeds of narcotics transactions that were ultimately used to facilitate the purchase of additional quantities of cocaine for additional narcotics transactions. Numerous OTL members and associates, including MALCOLM KINYON, a/k/a “M.A.,” ERIC ANTONMARCHI, a/k/a “Powerful,” a/k/a “P,” STAR BERMUDEZ, DERRICK ENSLEY, a/k/a “Dirk,” ANTON MILLER, a/k/a “Anton Singleton,” a/k/a “Nord,” and DANIEL SPOTARDS, a/k/a “D,” have made large cash deposits to the OTL Account.
In addition to trafficking narcotics, the OTL organization maintained discipline through the threatened use of violence. OTL members and associates have been recorded discussing the use of violence, including the use of firearms and physical assaults, to ensure repayment for drug debts and to deter co-conspirators from providing information to law enforcement, among other purposes. OTL’s leader, KINYON, is further charged with trafficking firearms purchased in Virginia and trafficked to New York for resale to OTL members and associates.
These arrests were coordinated with an investigation in the Northern District of New York, targeting Bloods gang members operating in and around Kingston, New York. As a result of that investigation, 31 defendants were indicted for narcotics and other charges in five indictments also unsealed today in Albany federal court. Many of these defendants were trafficking in cocaine and other drugs obtained from OTL.
A chart containing the names of the defendants who were arrested today, and the charges and maximum penalties they face, is attached.
The statutory maximum sentences are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the Court.
Mr. Bharara praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, and the City of Poughkeepsie Police Department. He further thanked the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Ulster Regional Gang Enforcement Narcotics Team for their cooperation and assistance in this investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Allee, Hagan Scotten, and Christopher Clore are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint and the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
