Long Island Drug Trafficker Sentenced To A Decade Behind Bars

HEMPSTEAD, NY — A Suffolk County man was sentenced to 10 years in prison today for his role as a major supplier of a huge drug trafficking ring based out of Hempstead. He was one of 40 people arrested earlier this year as part of a large investigation between Nassau County law enforcement and the ATF.

Allen Evans, 47, of Copiague, pleaded guilty on July 26 to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy. He was sentenced to a decade behind bars and five years of post-release supervision.

“High-level drug dealers have flooded our communities with narcotics during the pandemic, resulting in increased overdoses that destroy lives and kill people,” said Acting Nassau County District Attorney Joyce Smith. “This defendant was selling up to a kilogram of cocaine at a time to other dealers who distributed it throughout the county. Allen Evans was prosecuted as part of Operation Honeycomb, an investigation that dealt a significant blow to the illegal drug trade – and it’s violence – in Hempstead.”

Operation Honeycomb was a massive investigation into drug trafficking in Nassau County that began in 2019. It ended in the indictment of 40 people for drug trafficking in the Hempstead area. As a result of the investigation, law enforcement recovered more than three dozen firearms and drugs worth more than $2.7 million on the street.

According to Joyce, over four months in 2020, Evans sold more than $300,000 worth of cocaine. He sold a half to a full kilogram at a time, and trafficked the drug from Suffolk into Nassau.

On Nov. 13, 2020, Evans was stopped in a car and found with a kilogram of cocaine which he had just purchased in the Bronx. He was arrested then, and then re-arrested in March as part of the Operation Honeycomb indictment.

The pandemic caused the demand for drugs to spike, and prices rose sharply along with them. According to authorities, a kilogram of cocaine could sell for $28,000 to $30,000 before the pandemic. In August 2020, the price peaked at $55,000 a kilogram. Evans sold a kilogram of cocaine for more than $51,000 at times during the pandemic, officials said.

Evans is the second major trafficker to be convicted as part of Operation Honeycomb. Jamel Shands, 44, of Hempstead, pleaded guilty on July 9, 2021 to second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy. On Sept. 10, he was also sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years post-release supervision.

Cases against the other suppliers and traffickers arrested during the operation are pending.