NORWICH – Last week, prosecutors revealed a sealed grand jury indictment accusing a man of participating in a Norwich drug operation in which more than $25,000 in cocaine and assault weapons were seized.
The indictment is the latest in a series of developments in the case in which two brothers are accused of being involved in the drug trade with their girlfriends. Each of the four individuals has been arrested and charged with multiple felonies.
Prosecutors revealed the 21-year-old Michael J. Victor, of Bayshore, was indicted for nearly identical crimes that his older brother, 29-year-old Michael J. Victor was facing last week. The 21-year-old appeared in Chenango County Court for the first time Monday and pleaded not guilty to the charges.
District Attorney Joseph McBride said police had been seeking the younger Victor on an arrest warrant since last fall after investigations by police implicated him in a $25,000 cocaine and assault weapon seizure.
McBride requested that the defendant submit a DNA sample to compare to evidence found at the crime scenes and asked Judge W. Howard Sullivan to place Victor on $100,000 cash bail.
Defense Attorney Erin Neale said Victor had “no idea” law enforcement was searching for him and said her client was willing to submit his DNA to the court without an order.
Sullivan placed Victor on $100,000 cash bail and remanded him to the Chenango County Correctional Facility.
The older brother, 29-year-old Michael A. Victor, was arrested on March 27, 2009 with his girlfriend at the time, 21-year-old Curissa Jenkins.
Police had forced their way into two separate apartments in the City of Norwich at 72 Plymouth St. and 31 Hickok Ave. They found Victor and Jenkins at their Hickok Ave. address and discovered a stash of illegal substances and paraphernalia at the Plymouth St. apartment.
Investigators at the time contended that the two kept two separate apartments in the city of Norwich – one where they lived and another allegedly used as a front to store and sell narcotics.
Then on April 3, a new development came in the case when officers discovered a storage unit in the Town of Norwich rented in Jenkins’ name. They found a 2004 Mercedes CLK 500 sports coupe with three loaded firearms inside, a TEC-9 machine pistol with a large capacity magazine, a .357 revolver, a .22 caliber semi-automatic pistol and $25,000 of wrapped crack cocaine inside the car.
After making the initial arrests, prosecutors say police began looking for the other Michael J. Victor and his girlfriend at the time, 23-year-old Casie L. Brooks.
Police have yet to detail their involvement in the case, but Brooks was arrested on Nov. 13 and later pleaded guilty. Both Jenkins and Brooks have taken plea bargains in the case and have agreed to testify against their alleged co-conspirators.
Brooks pleaded guilty to third degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a B class felony carrying a sentence of up to nine years in prison, in a deal with prosecutors that may require her to testify against her alleged co-conspirators.
Her assigned Defense Attorney Adam Spence said it was his client’s understanding that if she fulfilled her requirements, she would be released with time already served and be placed on five years probation.
Jenkins pleaded guilty in early January to fifth degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a D class felony that carries a maximum prison sentence of two and a half years with one year of post release supervision. Her attorney, Public Defender Alan Gordon, said she would be sentenced to time already served and placed on five years post release supervision as part of her deal.