By Dustin Brown
A drug ring that doled out half a million dollars worth of cocaine a year from a Ridgewood bar and a nearby apartment was put out of business last Thursday when police arrested five people, including the bar owner, a bartender and a married pair of senior citizens, authorities said.
Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said “Issues,” the bar at 65-08 Fresh Pond Rd., “catered to customers who wanted more than beer and liquor by supplying them with cocaine-to-go.”
Detectives arrested five people last Thursday night after an 11-month undercover investigation into an operation that allegedly raked in as much as $10,000 a week and $500,000 in a year, Brown said. The suspected ringleader, Steven Hutter, 36, of 61-25 Linden St., was apprehended at the bar along with two alleged dealers, Terrence O’Toole, 32, of 60-11 Metropolitan Ave. and William Scheer, 34, address unknown, the DA said.
A married couple, Anthony Ferrera, 66, and his wife Mary Ferrera, 57, were arrested at their second-floor apartment at 71-74 69th Place, which they allegedly used to process, package and store cocaine, the DA said.
All five face charges of conspiracy and criminal sale of a controlled substance and up to 25 years in prison if convicted, Brown said. They were arraigned Friday in Queens Supreme Court before Justice James Griffin, who ordered Hutter held without bail and set bail at $250,000 for Scheer, $50,000 for Ferrera and $35,000 for his wife, and $25,000 for O’Toole, according to the DA.
Detectives who searched the bar and apartment seized 39 $20 cocaine bags, narcotics paraphernalia such as scales, bags mixers and blenders as well as approximately $8,000 in cash — including $2,200 from Hutter’s own pants pocket and more than $5,000 in the bar’s safe and cash register, Brown said.
Doing business as “Issues — Everybody’s Got ‘Em,” the bar regularly drew a crowd on Wednesday and Thursday nights to carry out drug transactions that had been prearranged by phone, said Brown, who described Hutter and Scheer as “night owls who carefully screened their cocaine customers in an effort to evade detection.”
The bar logged particularly strong sales on New Year’s Eve, Brown said, when Hutter allegedly sold more than $5,000 worth of cocaine to bar patrons.
The investigation began in February when police detectives heard about Hutter’s alleged drug trade on the street and subsequently began surveillance, Brown said.
Reach reporter Dustin Brown by e-mail at Timesledger@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 154.
