{"id":90172,"date":"2018-04-26T09:35:09","date_gmt":"2018-04-26T13:35:09","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=90172"},"modified":"2018-04-25T10:40:51","modified_gmt":"2018-04-25T14:40:51","slug":"operation-bricktown-schneiderman-announces-10-year-state-prison-sentence-of-major-drug-trafficking-ring-supplier","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=90172","title":{"rendered":"Operation Bricktown: Schneiderman announces\u00a010-year state prison sentence of major drug trafficking ring supplier"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Operation Bricktown: Schneiderman announces\u00a010-year state prison sentence of major drug trafficking ring supplier<\/strong><\/p>\n

Antwan Lockhart\u00a0will serve\u00a010\u00a0years\u00a0in\u00a0prison; all 52\u00a0defendants in Operation Bricktown have now pleaded guilty, following AG\u2019s bust of violent\u00a0drug trafficking ring that operated in Onondaga, Oswego,\u00a0Madison,\u00a0St. Lawrence and Cortland counties<\/em><\/p>\n

Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced\u00a0the\u00a010-year state prison sentence\u00a0of\u00a0Antwan Lockhart,\u00a0who\u00a0supplied drugs to a trafficking ring that distributed cocaine and heroin throughout Onondaga, Oswego, Madison, St. Lawrence, and Cortland Counties. The\u00a0defendant\u00a0was\u00a0charged\u00a0as\u00a0part of \u201cOperation Bricktown,\u201d\u00a0an\u00a0investigation spearheaded by the Attorney General\u2019s Organized Crime Task Force as part of\u00a0his\u00a0Suburban and Upstate Response to the Growing Epidemic (\u201cS.U.R.G.E.\u201d) Initiative<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 a crackdown on New York\u2019s widening heroin, opioid, and narcotics distribution networks.<\/p>\n

All 52 individuals charged in Operation Bricktown have now entered guilty pleas, including dozens of members of\u00a0Syracuse\u2019s violent Bricktown street gang. In total, the 52 defendants were charged\u00a0inOperation Bricktown\u00a0with 370 crimes<\/a>, including narcotics sales\u00a0and murder conspiracies.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs the opioid and heroin crisis continues to devastate communities across New York, my office and our partners in law enforcement will continue to work together to bring relief and justice to those impacted,\u201d said\u00a0Attorney General Schneiderman. \u201cThis sentencing should send a clear message: those who pump deadly drugs into our neighborhoods will be caught and will face the consequences.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Attorney General’s investigation found that the trafficking ring distributed\u00a0cocaine and heroin throughout multiple counties throughout upstate New York. During\u00a0the execution of a search warrant at an apartment rented by Lockhart, investigators recovered nearly two kilograms of cocaine, along with cocaine presses and other narcotics paraphernalia.<\/p>\n

In 2008, Lockhart was convicted of cocaine possession as a result of a wiretap investigation conducted by the Attorney General’s OCTF.\u00a0On Friday,\u00a0Lockhart\u00a0was sentenced by the Hon. Thomas J. Miller in Onondaga County Court\u00a0to ten years in prison\u00a0for his\u00a0guilty\u00a0plea\u00a0to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, a Class A Felony. As part of the sentence, he must also serve five years of post-release parole supervision.<\/p>\n

Since it launched in April 2017, the\u00a0Attorney General\u2019s SURGE Initiative<\/a>\u00a0has taken down nine major drug trafficking rings across New York \u2013 resulting in 302 traffickers taken\u00a0off the streets.<\/p>\n

In addition to prosecuting major drug trafficking rings,\u00a0Attorney General Schneiderman\u2019s multi-levered strategy to tackle New York\u2019s evolving opioid epidemic includes:<\/p>\n