Watertown Daily Times | Thirty-five from St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego counties held in A.G. drug sting

CANTON — Another person has been picked up in St. Lawrence County as a part of Thursday’s major drug sting, being called “Operation Central City,” conducted by the state Attorney General’s Office.

St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Detective Arthur Shattuck, the lead investigator in the case was taking Matthew Stewart, 41, Massena, to Syracuse to join the 20 other St. Lawrence County residents who were picked up in the sting early Thursday morning. The case is being prosecuted in Syracuse.

Mr. Stewart was one of four remaining St. Lawrence County people still wanted in the sting.

In addition to the 21 people charged from the county, Thursday’s police roundup led to four arrests in Jefferson County and 10 arrests in Oswego, according to the list provided by the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office.

The state Attorney General’s Office Thursday afternoon announced the indictment of 65 individuals facing 93 charges connected to conspiring in two major drug distribution networks that allegedly transported heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to Onondaga, St. Lawrence, Oswego, Oneida and Jefferson counties.

“Operation Central City,” a 15-month investigation that included covert surveillance and hundreds of hours of wiretaps, was aimed at rooting out heroin, fentanyl and cocaine dealers operating in the five counties.

In a Thursday afternoon news release, Attorney General Letitia James said the two indictments, which were unsealed in Onondaga County Court, allege that the investigation led to the recovery of approximately 4,700 bags of heroin and fentanyl, which had all been pre-packaged for easy distribution by the trafficking ring — with a street value estimated at about $140,000 — and approximately 2 kilos of cocaine, with a street value estimated at more than $200,000.

Among the 65 charged, the following people were from St. Lawrence, Jefferson and Oswego counties:

Ogdensburg:

Corrin Brown, aka, Corrin Perry, 22;

Pamela Cole, 38;

Brandon Dority, 31;

Brandy Grenier, 35;

Jeffrey Kendall, 38;

Matthew Pearson, 28;

Katelynn Perretta, 28;

Ryan Perretta, 28;

Jennifer Ross, 34;

Tyler Scott, 34;

Salean Simmons, 27;

Massena:

Carl Davey, 48;

Karen Hollis, 62;

Justin Love, 26;

Cassondra Northrup, 35;

Matthew Stewart, 41;

William Ward, 45;

Canton:

Hillary Gilson, 33;

Michael LaBaff, 33;

Joshua Martin, 40;

Raymond Provost, 49;

Watertown:

Carlos Arroyo, 33;

Ambrose Barnes, 30;

Isaac Gebo, 22;

Lynia Wardrick, 19;

Oswego:

Reginald Benton, 47;

Jonathan Boyce, 44;

Paul Brown, 33;

Nicole Kenyon, 43;

Calvin King, 50;

Joseph Muscarella, 28;

Vell Kory Smithers, 44;

Brian Spaulding, 58;

Brooke Thomas, 25;

Jeremy Ware, 34;

All the defendants charged were taken to Onondaga County Court in Syracuse, where the indictments were unsealed and defendants were arraigned.

The first indictment is comprised of 33 defendants who are accused of selling narcotics in Onondaga, St. Lawrence and Jefferson counties. As alleged in the indictment, Shondell Days of Syracuse provided narcotics to Hillary Gilson, Salean Simmons and numerous other St. Lawrence County drug dealers. Simmons also had several other narcotics sources besides Days, including Carlos Arroyo of Watertown and Robert Vega, Corey Tisdale, Felix Cirino and Chyna Simon-Hess, all of Jersey City, N.J.

The second indictment includes 34 defendants, two of whom also appear on the first indictment. This indictment alleges that Abdullah Quaid, Adam Durham and Louis Mike led a Syracuse-based narcotics distribution network that sold cocaine, heroin and fentanyl to drug resellers in Onondaga, St. Lawrence, Jefferson, Oswego and Oneida counties.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant Deputy Attorney General and Senior Investigative Counsel James J. Mindell of the Organized Crime Task Force,