3 Vernon residents arrested in fed drug bust

By Nathan Mayberg
VERNON — Federal prosecutors have charged 11 people with dealing cocaine, including three Vernon residents.

Cheyenne Simpson, Lashanata Mendoza and Michael Brands were charged with narcotics conspiracy and face a minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison of they are convicted of charged that they distributed more than five kilograms of cocaine.

The alleged drug conspiracy ran from the Bronx down to Orange County and Sullivan County.

The investigation into the drug dealing included court-ordered wiretaps and the use of confidential informants. A press release from the U.S. Prosecutor's Office stated that the investigation involved numerous federal agencies as well as local police departments in Vernon and Warwick, state police in New Jersey and New York.

In once instance, Mendoza is accused of having arranged the sale of cocaine in the vicinity of Matthews Street in Goshen, New York while Simpson completed the deal. Brands allegedly sold cocaine to a confidential informant in Middletown, New York.

The office of U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara also filed motions to seize any assets from the defendants which were derived from the proceeds of the sale of the cocaine.