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The six suspects were arrested and arraigned in federal court on Tuesday, Nov. 12 in connection with a drug conspiracy that operated in Peekskill, the US Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York announced on Friday, Nov. 15.
According to the federal indictment, from around April 2024 to the date of their arrests, the six defendants worked to supply and distribute large amounts of cocaine, crack cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other narcotics in Peekskill.
They would work out of several residential buildings in the city, including the Bohlmann Towers at 807 Main St. and Dunbar Heights complex at 696 Highland Ave., which are both owned by the Peekskill Housing Authority. From these buildings, the defendants would sell drugs every day themselves and through street sellers and couriers, officials said.
The six defendants were identified as:
- Jason Tinsley, also known as "Floss," a 42-year-old Peekskill resident;
- Jerome Reed, also known as "Pops," a 35-year-old Peekskill resident;
- Rakim Mayo, also known as "Bo," a 35-year-old Brooklyn resident;
- Thomas Ryan, a 43-year-old Brooklyn resident;
- Gary Burkett, a 62-year-old Peekskill resident;
- Miesha Cato, a 37-year-old Peekskill resident.
They are all charged with narcotics conspiracy and face a maximum sentence of life in prison and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years.
US Attorney Damian Williams condemned the defendants' actions, saying they had been "disrupting people’s everyday lives and brazenly infesting the streets and residential buildings of Peekskill with dangerous drugs while they sought to get rich.
"Our investigation remains ongoing, and I thank our law enforcement partners and the career prosecutors of this office who are working tirelessly to keep drug dealers and dangerous illegal drugs out of our communities," Williams continued.
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