Officials Say Gang Broken By 21 Arrests
By LYNETTE HOLLOWAY
Published: September 30, 1995
In two decades, the Seven Crowns built their neighborhood gang into a sophisticated, million-dollar-a-week drug enterprise that operated ruthlessly and flagrantly, recruiting from the youngest upstarts and selling to the youngest buyers in southeast Queens. Those who crossed the line, authorities said, were killed.
The gang that sold at bars, houses, restaurants, bodegas and street corners had, in recent years, begun distributing their heroin and cocaine throughout the eastern and southeast United States, according to federal and state authorities.
But authorities said they have broken the back of the Seven Crowns with the arrest of 21 members, including their elusive ringleader, Anthony Feurtado.
Mr. Feurtado, 37, was arrested on Thursday in Los Angeles by United States marshals as he tried to renew a car rental lease, authorities said. He was arrested on a South Carolina warrant charging him with conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
Prosecutors said the gang initially sold cocaine and later Nigerian heroin, which is 90 percent pure, under the label "Black Rain," in South Ozone Park and South Jamaica, Queens. Authorities said the Seven Crowns, which has connections to the Colombian drug trade, recently expanded its organization to several East Coast cities, including Columbia and Charleston, S.C.; Virginia Beach, Va., and Halifax, N.C.
For years, various arms of New York City law enforcement tried to catch Mr. Feurtado, who frequently changed his name, according to Robert J. Masters, a Queens Assistant District Attorney.
In February Mr. Feurtado's cousin, Garry Feurtado, and an associate, Kevin Barrett, were arrested at the Columbia Metropolitan Airport in South Carolina. Authorities said they carried more than 20 kilograms of cocaine -- with an estimated street value of $8 million -- stuffed into two suitcases. Drug Enforcement Agency agents began monitoring the men after they paid cash for one-way airline tickets to Los Angeles. The Queens District Attorney's Office, the New York City Police Department and the D.E.A joined the South Carolina U.S. Attorney's Office, the South Carolina State Law Enforcement Division and the Columbia Metropolitan Airport Police in the hunt.
After learning that Anthony Feurtado was using the name Anthony Brown, investigators conducted a credit card check that led them to Los Angeles, investigators said. They spoke with an official of a car rental agency who told them that Mr. Brown had been ordered to return to the agency for a new rental contract because he had not paid a parking summons. He was arrested when he returned.
Prosecutors in South Carolina allege that since 1993 the group has distributed an estimated 1,500 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of about $750 million.
Authorities said Anthony Feurtado honed his skills growing up on the streets of southeast Queens as a member of the then youthful Seven Crowns. His ruthless enforcement style put him on par with other notorious gang leaders, including Lorenzo (Fat Cat) Nichols, Kenneth McGriff and Gerald (Prince) Miller, said Peter A. Crusco, chief of the Queens District Attorney's Narcotics Investigations Bureau.
"Until now, Tony Feurtado has practiced the trade as successfully as they did, but escaping apprehension longer than all of them," said Robert J. Masters, a Queens Assistant District Attorney.
While the origin of the name, Seven Crowns, is unclear, two people who were arrested wore gold rings with diamonds in the shape of a seven encrusted over a crown. Each gang member is viewed as a jewel in the crown. The group grossed about a million a week in southeast Queens, Mr. Masters said.
"These arrests have tremendous significance for the people of Queens County," Richard A. Brown, the Queens District Attorney, said. "The dismantling of this organization will hopefully lead to a decrease in street trafficking and the violence that accompanies it."
The Seven Crowns started out in 1970 as a street gang of rabble rousers whose members pelted houses and threatened to burn them down. Its members grew to include some known drug leaders in Queens, including Anthony Feurtado, Mr. Nichols, Mr. Miller and James (Wall) Corley. In 1979, the gang started the drug trade and split, dividing their turf into several territories in southeast Queens, creating the Seven Crowns, the Corley Crew, the Prince Crew and the Supreme Team, investigators said.
In the 1980's crack cocaine exploded onto the scene and competition stiffened, inciting turf wars and murder. Anthony Feurtado worked with his brothers, Lance and Todd, and an uncle, Kendall George Feurtado, a former New York City Police detective, authorities said. Under intense scrutiny by law enforcement, he fled to other parts of the country but continued his Queens operation through networks and franchises, Mr. Crusco said.
In 1989, authorities in search of Mr. Feurtado surrounded a north Portland, Ore., town house for about 10 hours before they realized he was not inside. Officers believed Mr. Feurtado, who was wanted in New York City on a narcotics conspiracy warrant, was hiding there. He had lived at the house for at least two years, police said. His wife and 6-year-old son were inside when officers arrived.
Certain that the heat was off, Mr. Feurtado returned to Queens in 1990 and began selling Nigerian heroin, Mr. Crusco said.
Kendall, Todd and Lance Feurtado were arrested on Thursday by members of the New York City Organized Crime Investigations Division. They were charged with conspiring to distribute narcotics, stemming from South Carolina warrants. They were arraigned in Federal District Court in Brooklyn. The other associates were charged with selling heroin, officials said.
"We want to send a message from South Carolina clear back to Queens that we will not tolerate drug sales," said J. Pete Strom, United States Attorney for the district of South Carolina.
http://www.nytimes.com/1995/09/30/nyregi...ed=2&src=pm
