After admitting to participating in a lucrative drug-dealing ring near Astoria’s Ravenswood Houses, a Long Island City man will be spending the next eight years in a state prison.
Jamarl Gilmore, 38, of 35th Avenue in Long Island City pleaded guilty back in July to second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. On Sept. 5, he was ordered to serve an 8-year prison sentence, followed by five years’ probation, according to acting Queens District Attorney John Ryan.
“The defendant admittedly sold drugs to the members of this community. In doing so, the defendant and his operatives unknowingly traded drugs for cash with undercover detectives, who were part of a long-term investigation,” Ryan said on Thursday. “The sentence meted out today by the Court sends a strong message to other individuals who make money selling poison in our neighborhoods.”
Prosecutors said the ring operated in and around the Ravenswood Houses between March and June of 2018. Gilmore acted as the leader of the operation, which the Queens North Gang Squad and the Queens DA Narcotics Investigation Bureau busted through an intricate operation that involved court-authorized eavesdropping.
Law enforcement agents recorded phone conversations in which Gilmore and six others charged in the ring allegedly discussed dealing cocaine and/or heroin with customers near the public housing complex. They also arranged for undercover officers to buy narcotics directly from Gilmore and his associates.
Gilmore was initially arrested on Aug. 1, 2018, and others were picked up by police in April of this year for their roles in the drug-running business. The cases against the other defendants are still pending, Ryan noted.
