MINEOLA, N.Y. – Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas announced that a Uniondale man who supplied heroin and cocaine to dealers on Long Island and upstate New York has been convicted of Operating as a Major Trafficker and other drug-related charges. This is the first time someone has been convicted of Operating as a Major Trafficker in Nassau County.
David Ramis, 40, was convicted by a jury yesterday of:
- Two counts of Operating as a Major Trafficker (an A-I felony)
- Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 1st Degree (an A-I felony)
- Three counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree (an A-II felony)
- Two counts Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 2nd Degree (an A-II felony)
- Eight counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony)
- Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree (a B felony)
- Two counts of Conspiracy in the First Degree (a B felony)
- Two counts of Conspiracy in the 4th Degree (an E felony)
- Two counts Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree (an A misdemeanor)
The trial, before Acting Supreme Court Justice Helen Gugerty, lasted five weeks and the jury deliberated for three and a half days. The defendant is due back in court June 15 for sentencing and faces a maximum of 49 years to life in prison.
“Today’s conviction marks the first time a defendant has been convicted of Operating as a Major Trafficker in Nassau County since the law was enacted in 2009,” DA Singas said. “When David Ramis was arrested as part of Operation Gram Slam, an entire heroin distribution ring was dismantled in Nassau County. We will aggressively prosecute anyone who is dealing this poison in our communities.”
William F. Sweeney, Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI New York Field Office said, “We have said this before, but it cannot be stressed enough. The law enforcement partnerships all of the agencies involved in this case have developed are making a major impact on the criminal enterprises on Long Island. The work we’re doing day in and day out is bringing pushers and dealers to justice, and stopping them from exacerbating the deadly drug epidemic killing thousands of people in this country. Our FBI Long Island Gang Task Force and our partner agencies aren’t going away.”
DA Singas said that beginning in January 2016 the NCDA began investigating Ramis as a supplier of heroin and cocaine to approximately 50 dealers throughout Long Island and upstate New York. During the nine-month investigation, it was learned that most of his drug transactions took place in front of his Uniondale home and the defendant saw his top customers so frequently that he told them he had to double up their orders because he didn’t want to drive around with narcotics so frequently. Additionally, some of his users stated that the heroin Ramis provided them was so strong they were surprised that it didn’t kill them.
More than a kilogram of cocaine and more than 130 grams of heroin was seized from Ramis by police using search warrants and car stops during the investigation. At the time of his arrest on July 14, 2016, more than 150 grams of cocaine were recovered from a sophisticated concealed compartment in his car that enabled him to transport the drugs. The street value of the heroin that the defendant possessed and sold to his three top customers within a three-month period of the investigation was valued at more than a quarter of a million dollars.
Ramis is the first defendant in Nassau County to be convicted of Operating as a Major Trafficker since the law was enacted in November 2009. The Operating as a Major Trafficker statute is the only drug crime in New York State that carries a life sentence.
In July 2016, the NCDA indicted 31 people for their roles in a Nassau and Suffolk narcotics ring, dubbed ‘Operation Gram Slam’. To date, dispositions have been reached in 30 of 31 Gram Slam cases.
Operation Gram Slam was the result of a nine-month long investigation by the FBI Long Island Gang Task Force into local heroin distributors and included assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Rockville Centre Police Department, Nassau County Police Department, Suffolk County Police Department, New York State Police, Hempstead Police Department, Garden City Police Department, Glen Cove Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff’s Department, Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office and the Suffolk County Department of Probation.
Assistant District Attorneys Lee Genser and Patrick Brand of DA Singas’ Special Operations Narcotics and Gangs bureau are prosecuting this case. The defendant is represented by Natasja Bellinger, Esq.
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