MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that an Amityville man has been sentenced to nine years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision for his role in a heroin ring that operated along Route 110 in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
Branden Harris, a/k/a “Doughboy,” 28, pleaded guilty on July 3 before Supervising Judge Teresa Corrigan to Operating as a Major Trafficker (an A-I felony) and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony). The NCDA recommended a sentence of 15 years to life imprisonment.
Harris’ sentence stems from a nine-month-long investigation that led to the indictment of 36 people in April 2017. The investigation, dubbed “Operation Bundle Up,” was one of the largest narcotics takedowns in Long Island history. An additional ten defendants were arrested as part of the investigation. To date, 45 of the 46 defendants have pleaded guilty to various drug offenses.
“Harris and his co-defendants turned a commercial corridor on Long Island into a heroin highway, where they sold thousands of doses of deadly narcotics every week,” DA Singas said. “This brazen group raked in hundreds of thousands of dollars, but their shockingly overt nature and hubris ultimately led to their downfall. Thanks to a remarkable collaboration of state and federal law enforcement, the 110 Crew’s drug dealing days are over.”
DA Singas said that Harris was the leader of a narcotics distribution ring that operated along Route 110 in Nassau and Suffolk counties.
The group ran an elaborate operation, selling heroin in bundles – or 10 glassines – to hundreds of customers a day outside of hotels, restaurants, gas stations, strip malls, name-brand retailers, coffee shops and other locations at all hours of the day. It is estimated that Harris and his associates made a weekly profit of approximately $40,000 to $50,000 from their illegal activities.
Harris’ residence in Amityville was the epicenter of the narcotics activity and the place where Harris and co-defendants stored and packaged their narcotics for distribution. Harris directed his associates to make drug sales, divided up the narcotics for resale, and diffused territorial conflicts among his associates. Additionally, the defendant sold heroin that was laced with the lethal substance, fentanyl.
Investigators learned that Harris received approximately 400 phone calls a day from customers seeking to purchase heroin.
The arrests were the result of a nine-month-long investigation into local heroin distributors by the NCDA, the Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, New York State Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office.
This case was prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Jhounelle Cunningham of DA Singas’ Special Operations, Narcotics and Gangs Bureau. The defendant is represented by Kenneth St. Bernard, Esq.
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