By KIMBERLY ACEVEDO
Many of the alleged "wanna-bes" were unemployed, lived at home with their parents and led aimless lifestyles, investigating officials said. Their lifestyles included dining out at expensive restaurants, driving luxury vehicles, and hanging out at clubs in Manhattan and the Hamptons, officials said.
"The defendants are alleged to have sold drugs and controlled substances and to have belonged to 'wanna be' drug crews that made profits of over $1 million a year," Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown said. "Some crew members are alleged to have led vapid, self-indulgent lifestyles in expensive restaurants, nightclubs, health clubs and tanning salons and may have thought that they were living on easy street, when in fact they were already under investigation and headed to prison."
On Thursday, April 3, Anthony Marsicano, 34, of 3203 Shore Road in Oceanside, was charged with 491 counts of multiple degrees of criminal sale and possession of a controlled substance, criminal sale of marijuana and conspiracy.
Eight years ago Marsicano pled guilting to seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Queens District Attorney spokesperson said.
Richard Maldone, 40, of 665 East Broadway in Long Beach was charged with 74 counts of fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. Maldone is an actor who plays crime family capo Albert Barese on "The Sopranos."
During the undercover investigation, dubbed Operation Beach Boys, police learned that over two dozen alleged drug dealers operated as part of a number of drug crews in Howard Beach, Queens. The alleged crew members are facing charges tying them to selling narcotics and controlled substances, including cocaine, Ecstasy, ketamine, Vicodin and marijuana. Officials alleged that the "wanna-be" drug crews operated on the fringe of organized crime in the Gambino mob turf in Queens County.
"During the investigation, we learned that these groups dealt in a wide variety of drugs and could move large quantities," Police Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly said. "They had money and status, and seemed to get away with anything."
Other illegal transactions included the purchase of three handguns -- a .22-caliber Baretta automatic, a .25- caliber Baretta automatic and a .22-caliber revolver whose serial number had been removed.
The indictment charges that some defendants attempted to conceal the nature of their transactions by referring to large Ecstasy tablets as "cookies and cream," while others were warned to use jewelry terms when talking about narcotics and controlled substances.
It is alleged that the crews sold cocaine for up to $1,200 an ounce, marijuana for up to $3,800 a pound, large Ecstasy tablets for up to $10, regular-sized Ecstasy tablets for up to $8, Vicodin tablets for up to $5 and vials of ketamine for up to $75.
The investigation was sparked after Queens Narcotics Division detectives learned about an illegal shipment of drugs in January 2001.
Prosecutors from the District Attorney's Narcotics Investigation Bureau used a court-ordered eavesdropping warrant. Investigators were able to intercept telephone conversations among alleged drug crew members.
