Man Posed As NYPD, Terrorized BK Family In Search Of Drugs: Feds

WILLIAMSBURG, BROOKLYN — A man who terrorized a family in their Williamsburg apartment as he searched for heroin was arrested Thursday on a slew of federal charges, prosecutors announced.

Devone Jefferys, who goes by "Moneybags," will be arraigned on Friday for a 2015 incident where he and several co-conspirators posed as NYPD officers to break into a drug dealer's apartment in search of heroin.

The group tied up the dealer and his family at gunpoint and Jefferys, 27, raped one of the women that was in the apartment as he made her search for drugs in a back alley, prosecutors said.

"Jeffery’s and his co- conspirators are alleged to have committed horrific crimes that may also leave deep mental and emotional scars on their victims,” ATF Special Agent-in-Charge John B. Devito said “We will continue to send the message to both the perpetrators and their victims that the law enforcement community will not allow lawless behavior and will use every resource at its disposal to protect the public from violence."

The three-count indictment against Jefferys includes robbery conspiracy, attempted robbery and weapons charges. A representative of the U.S. Attorneys Office said he could not comment on whether Jefferys would also be charged with sexual assault.

The attempted robbery happened on July 31, 2015, prosecutors said.

Jefferys and his co-conspirators entered the apartment to steal heroin and money from the dealer, who was inside with his family. When they got inside, the group took out their guns and tied up a few of the victims with duct tape.

One of the victims had thrown a bag of heroin out the window, which Jefferys took one of the women from the apartment into a back alley to search for, prosecutors said. When he couldn't find the heroin, Jefferys forced the woman to perform oral sex on him at gunpoint and raped her before running away.

“This case is a reminder of the heinous acts that are too often associated with drugs and drug money,” said NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill. “It is our hope that there will now be a successful prosecution and that this process helps the victims as they continue to heal.”

Jefferys case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together U.S. Attorneys offices with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement to reduce violent crime.

Thursday's indictment was announced by the U.S. Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of New York, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the NYPD.