Finger Lakes: Second Major Drug Bust In Surge Initiative, Charges 31 In 217-Count Indictment

ALBANY - Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman has announced the arrests and 217-count indictment of 31 members charged with distributing massive quantities of heroin, from New York City and throughout the Finger Lakes Region, including in New York, Bronx, Queens, Schuyler, Tioga, and Tompkins Counties – the second major drug bust in Attorney General Schneiderman’s S.U.R.G.E. Initiative, which targets violent heroin and opioid traffickers in suburban and upstate New York.
As part of “Operation Un-Wise,” state and local law enforcement agents, led by the New York State Attorney General's Organized Crime Task Force (OCTF), and the New York State Police, concluded a five-month investigation into a drug network that was allegedly conducting illicit activities on the streets of the Finger Lakes Region. 
A central figure in the alleged heroin distribution network was Arthur “Wise” Erskine. According to the criminal charges, Erskine was an Ithaca-based heroin dealer who purchased heroin from a source in New York City for $56 per gram. Erskine also touted himself as a music promoter for his production company Bandyard Entertainment, and even personally appeared in some of the music videos. Erskine maintained one residence in the Bronx and two houses in the Cayuga Heights neighborhood of Ithaca, which were allegedly utilized for trafficking heroin.  
Also alleged to be central to the heroin distribution network was the mother of Erskine’s children, Aylah “Boogz” Stewart-Boda. Prosecutors allege that Stewart involved her entire family in her heroin trafficking, having her mother, Lynn Boda distribute heroin in Ithaca; her older sister, Myia Boda, sell heroin; and her younger sister, Destiny Boda, mule drugs to other re-sellers.
In early March, Erskine allegedly purchased hundreds of grams of heroin from defendant Jose Polanco, an alleged trafficker, which were then smuggled to Tompkins County. That heroin was laced with Fentanyl and, between March 2, 2017 and March 7, 2017, Tompkins County and Tioga County experienced eight overdose calls for service, including one for the death of Stephanie Dvorak. Ms. Dvorak was allegedly a heroin customer of defendant Zachary Kelly and arranged to meet Kelly during that time period.
On March 12, 2017, members of nine different law enforcement agencies executed search warrants on eight different residences throughout New York State: two locations in Manhattan, one in Queens, four in Tompkins County, and one in Tioga County. Among the items seized during the execution of those search warrants were more than one kilogram of heroin, dozens of grams of cocaine, 14 handguns, one MAC-11 machine pistol, and narcotics-related paraphernalia.  
The indictments, which were unsealed today in Tioga County Court, contain 217 counts, charging 31 people with various Criminal Sale and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance (class A, B, C, D felonies) and Conspiracy in the second degree (class B felony) in relation to their involvement in the narcotics trafficking network. Those charged today include:

• Joseph Besemer, 34 years old, of Newfield, NY
• Shaylee Bisgrove, 24 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Destiny Boda, 25 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Lynn Boda, 50 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Myia Boda, 31 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Corey Bond, 31 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Stormie Coyne, 39 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Katie Crapo, 28 years old, of Odessa, NY
• Michael Dawson, 26 years old, of Willseyville, NY
• Arthur Erskine, 40 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Erica Farrell, 32 years old, of Candor, NY
• Dioremi Feliz, 36 years old, of New York, New York
• Brittany Ford, 28 years old, of Bronx, NY
• Shanakia Gray, 34 years old, of Newfield, NY
• Zachary Kelly, 32 years old, of Bronx, NY
• Yvette King, 40 years old, of Lansing, NY
• Zavierus King, 22 years old, of Lansing, NY
• Johnny Lee, 37 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Angelo LeGrande, 42 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Jerica Luoma, 28 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Eric MacDonald, 32 years old, of Candor, NY
• Dustin Myers, 29 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Jose Polanco, 38 years old, of New York, NY
• Devon Rose, 19 years old, of Willseyville, NY
• Branden Schmeltz, 22 years old, of Spencer, NY
• Nicole Spence, 43 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Aylah Stewart-Boda, 25 years old, of Ithaca, NY
• Brandon Stone, 26 years old, of Candor, NY
• Savanna Washington, 26 years old, of Candor, NY
• Justin Westbrook, 25 years old, of Spencer, NY
• Joseph White, 26 years old, of Cortland, NY

“Opioid use is a major problem in Ithaca and Tompkins County, with overdoses an almost daily occurrence, and unnecessary deaths all too frequent. I am pleased that we were able to work with Attorney General Schneiderman’s Organized Crime Task Force to break up this heroin ring,” said Ithaca Mayor Svante Myrick. “I am hopeful that this will slow the flow of drugs and save lives in the immediate term. We are committed to a four-pillar strategy that includes, as we saw today, law enforcement. In the coming months and years we must continue our focus on all four pillars, especially prevention, treatment, and harm reduction.”
The charges contained in the indictment are the result of a five-month joint investigation by the OCTF, the New York State Police and the City of Ithaca Police Department, with the assistance of the Tioga County Sheriff’s Office, the Tompkins County Sheriff’s Office, the NY National Guard Counterdrug Task Force, the United States Marshals Service, Village of Cayuga Heights Police, Dryden Police Department, the Groton Police Department, the Tioga County District Attorney’s Office, the Tompkins County District Attorney’s Office, the Spencer Police Department, the Waverly Police Department, the Broome County Sheriff’s Office, and the Schuyler County Sheriff’s Office.