Authorities: Valley Stream rapper Broke Boy Lord charged in drug ring

A Valley Stream rapper and his brother are among eight charged in connection with a narcotics-supply chain that moved hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of heroin and fentanyl from California to the metropolitan area, authorities said.

Jamel Brown, 25, known in the music business as Broke Boy Lord, along with his brother Randolph Brown, 45, also of Valley Stream, were arrested with another man and charged in January as part of an investigation that last week resulted in five more people being taken into custody, according to law enforcement officials.

In a joint statement, New York City special narcotics prosecutor Bridget Brennan, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz and other law enforcement officials, said the Brown brothers, as well as New York City school custodian Troy Williams, shipped hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash to California to procure cocaine and fentanyl from suppliers there. Wiretapped conversations discussed plans for Jamel Brown to travel to California, which he did on Jan. 22, the officials said.

Jamel Brown allegedly shipped cocaine and fentanyl to a Valley Stream UPS store in a package with a GPS tracking device. On Jan. 29, a UPS employee at a facility in Springfield Gardens, Queens, intercepted the package, investigators said. Jamel Brown was observed parked outside the Queens UPS facility and called Williams to express concern the GPS device showed the package in the parking lot and not inside the facility, according to officials.

An earlier shipment of cocaine shipped by Jamel Brown was intercepted in December in Bethpage, investigators said.

Police arrested the Brown brothers Jan. 29 and recovered cocaine, three handguns, a kilogram drug press and approximately $64,000 in cash during a search of three addresses in Valley Stream, authorities said. At one address linked to Randolph Brown, three children ages 10 to 16 years-old were present, authorities said.

Williams, 49, of Queens, was arrested Jan. 30 outside IS 59 where he worked as a custodian. Inside Williams’s black Mercedes-Benz, police found a kilogram of fentanyl valued on the street at $200,000, officials said.  Fentanyl is an opioid often that is often mixed with heroin and has contributed to many overdose deaths.

The Brown brothers and Williams were charged with operating as major drug traffickers, conspiracy and other charges. Other suspects arrested Friday, who were allegedly part of the Queens drug distribution network, were charged with drug sale and related charges, according to Brennan.

The Brown brothers and Williams were all released on bail, according to a spokeswoman for Brennan.  The other five suspects were released immediately without bail, the spokeswoman said.

Camille Russell, the attorney for Jamel Brown, said her client "vehemently denies the charges. He has no prior convictions."

Pack, the attorney for Randolph Brown, said his client “maintains his innocence and is going to try this case,” adding he believed his client would be exonerated. Williams attorney, Jeremy Schneider said his client was presumed innocent.

By Anthony M. DeStefano

tony.destefano@newsday.comtonynewsday

Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.