Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, William F. Sweeney Jr., the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (“FBI”), and Geraldine Hart, Commissioner of the Suffolk County Police Department (“SCPD”), announced a criminal Complaint charging three defendants with narcotics and firearms offenses. JOSEPH SWEENEY, JASMINE TABAK, and KEVIN TURNER, a/k/a “Tex,” were arrested yesterday on Long Island, New York, and will be presented today in Manhattan federal court.
U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said: “As alleged in the Complaint, the defendants were responsible for trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine throughout New York City. Thanks to the extraordinary work of our partners at the FBI and the Suffolk County Police Department, the defendants now face federal charges for their alleged crimes.”
FBI Assistant Director William F. Sweeney Jr. said: “As this case demonstrates, illegal narcotics continue to plague our communities. As alleged, Sweeney, Tabak, and Turner conspired to distribute methamphetamines, and Sweeney brandished a firearm in furtherance of his crimes. Our action today should demonstrate the FBI’s Long Island Safe Streets Task Force, working together with our partners from the Suffolk County Police Department, remains committed to protecting the public from those who would seek to perpetuate the damage caused by the distribution of illegal narcotics.”
Suffolk County Police Commissioner Geraldine Hart said: “A highly addictive and dangerous stimulant, methamphetamine cannot be trafficked in our communities. This trio allegedly spent months distributing poison into the hands of the addicted, furthering the damaging impacts of narcotics in countless families’ lives. I would like to commend the Southern District of New York, the FBI, and the members of the SCPD who took these dangerous individuals off the street and held them accountable for their alleged crimes.”
According to the allegations contained in the Complaint:[1]
From at least 2020 up to an including the present, defendants SWEENEY, TABAK, and TURNER conspired to distribute large quantities of methamphetamine, some of which was obtained from suppliers in New York, New York. Law enforcement officers seized at least approximately 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine from SWEENEY, TABAK, and TURNER during controlled purchases and a parcel seizure. In multiple recorded conversations with an undercover law enforcement officer and a cooperating witness, SWEENEY claimed that TURNER manufactured methamphetamine at SWEENEY’s Suffolk County residence.
On November 23, 2020, SWEENEY was arrested in Suffolk County after law enforcement officers observed SWEENEY engage in a hand-to-hand narcotics sale. In connection with the November 23, 2020, arrest, law enforcement officers seized methamphetamine and a loaded .38 caliber revolver from SWEENEY. In addition, on January 18, 2021, in connection with an undercover purchase of methamphetamine, TURNER told an undercover law enforcement officer that SWEENEY pointed a 9mm firearm at TURNER’s head because SWEENEY suspected that the undercover was a law enforcement officer.
SWEENEY, 39, TABAK, 34, and TURNER, 43, all from Bayport, New York, are each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute, or possess with intent to distribute, methamphetamines, a charge that carries a maximum term of life in prison and a mandatory minimum term of 10 years in prison. In addition, SWEENEY, is charged with one count of possessing a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense, which carries a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison, to be served consecutively to any other sentence.
Ms. Strauss praised the outstanding investigative work of the SCPD and the FBI’s Long Island Resident Agency.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys Benjamin Woodside Schrier and Emily A. Johnson are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Complaint, and the description of the Complaint set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.
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