Leader of Violent Bronx Heroin Organization Sentenced to 30 Years in Prison on Drug and Weapons Charges

OCT 1 -- (New York) Special Agent in Charge JOHN P. GILBRIDE, of the New York Field Division of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, MICHAEL J. GARCIA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that GEORGE DEJESUS, a/k/a “Georgito,” the leader of a violent heroin organization in the Bronx, was sentenced to 30 years' imprisonment on narcotics and weapons charges on September 28, 2007. On June 21, 2006, DEJESUS was found guilty by a Manhattan federal jury of charges stemming from the daily sale of thousands of dollars worth of heroin, and the violence with which he operated his drug crew. DEJESUS was sentenced by United States District Judge WILLIAM H. PAULEY III. According to the evidence presented at trial:

Between October 2001 and December 2003, DEJESUS's crew sold hundreds of bags of heroin per day to users and to other drug distributors. Profits from the heroin sales, at times, exceeded $10,000 per day. DEJESUS’s drug business, which operated on Boynton Avenue between Bruckner Boulevard and Watson Avenue in the Bronx, sold heroin from approximately 7:00 a.m. until midnight, by using managers and workers who operated during different shifts throughout the day. The heroin sold by DEJESUS’s organization, some of which was purchased by undercover officers of the New York City Police Department ("NYPD"), was stamped with brand names such as “Diesel,” “Blue Devil,” “Budweiser,” and “Warlock.” DEJESUS was responsible for all day-to-day operations of the business, including supplying the heroin to his managers for retail sale, collecting the drug proceeds at the end of each day, performing counter-surveillance to detect police activity, and switching the brand name stamps on the heroin bags to avoid police detection. DEJESUS ruled his organization through intimidation and violence. For example, in May 2002, DEJESUS directed a trusted lieutenant of his to retrieve a .38-caliber chrome revolver for use in connection with a drug dispute between his worker and an undercover New York City Police officer.

DEA Special Agent in Charge John Gilbride stated, “This sentencing is indicative of the dedication and dexterity of the law enforcement officers who initiated this investigation. Dejesus ran his drug trafficking network like a business around the clock. Well, that clock has stopped ticking and he will be spending the next 30 years behind bars.”

In imposing the sentence, Judge PAULEY stated: "The nature and circumstances of the crimes for which Mr. DeJesus stands convicted here present a grave danger to the community, and the introduction of illegal narcotics and firearms in the community poses incalculable risks and damage to people on the streets."

The United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York initiated an investigation into the drug trafficking activities of DEJESUS and his associates in October 2002, after officers of the NYPD reported that they had been threatened by DEJESUS that he could find their homes, and cause them harm. DEJESUS’s prosecution was the culmination of a nearly four year-long NYPD investigation into this high-traffic heroin distribution area in the Bronx, and resulted in the dismantling of this violent and profitable heroin organization.

Mr. GARCIA praised the cooperative investigative efforts of the Major Case Narcotics Unit of the Bronx Narcotics Division of the NYPD and the New York Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force (Strike Force) which is comprised of agents and officers of the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, the New York City Police Department, the United States Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Department of Homeland Security Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the New York State Police, the United States Marshals Service, the United States Secret Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.