A New York City police officer pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges that he conspired to sell drugs in Vermont.
Andre Clarke, a 13-year veteran of the New York Police Department, is accused of participating in a scheme to send the painkiller oxycodone from New York to Vermont to be sold.
Clarke and Michael Foreste, one of two other men named in the case, appeared before a judge in U.S. District Court in Burlington on Wednesday. Both pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Prosecutors say that Clarke, Foreste and Burlington-area resident Dannis D. Hackney ran the operation for three years. Beginning in 2011, Clarke allegedly supplied the prescription painkillers to Foreste, nicknamed “Beast,” who transported the pills in person or by mail to Burlington-area resident Dannis D. Hackney.
The drugs were sometimes mailed in care of Hackney’s two-month-old niece, sealed in Skittles candy packages, court documents say.
A federal grand jury based in Burlington named Clarke, along with Foreste and Hackney, in a 15-count indictment handed down last week.
Clarke was leaving his shift in Queens on Monday when special agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigations arrested him, according to court papers. The arresting officers used Clarke’s police credentials, which he was carrying at the time of his arrest, to identify him.
The NYPD officer joined the department in 2002. Clarke, who is also known by the name “Dre,” lives in the Bronx.
Clarke appeared before a federal magistrate in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday, where he was ordered to appear in court in Burlington for his arraignment the next day.
Clarke posted $200,000 bail Tuesday and was released into the custody of four people, according to court documents. He is prohibited from possessing a firearm, and is not permitted to be in contact with Foreste or Hackney.
At the hearing Wednesday, Clarke was released with conditions. He is not permitted to travel outside of the southeastern New York area except to travel to Vermont for court dates and meetings with his attorney. He is required to surrender his passport as part of the terms of his release, according to Jeff Jarvis of the U.S. District Court, and will be required to participate in pretrial services in New York.
Clarke is named in one of the 15 counts in the grand jury’s indictment. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.
Foreste and Hackney were arrested in June 2014 and have been imprisoned since. The two face additional charges, including charges related to cocaine and money laundering.
Hackney was not present in court Wednesday. He waived his appearance and a not guilty plea was entered in his absence.
VTDigger’s Sam Heller contributed to this report.
