JULY 10, 2000

D.A. BROWN: INTERNET CHATTER CHARGED WITH SELLING MARIJUANA FROM HIS COLLEGE POINT HOME

Queens District Attorney Richard A. Brown announced today the arrest of a College Point man for selling marijuana to an undercover police officer he met in Internet chat rooms.

District Attorney Brown said that the defendant, Nicolas Kara, 34, of 128-18 23rd Avenue College Point, Queens is charged with criminal sale of marijuana and criminal possession of marijuana. He faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.

According to the charges, the defendant would log into Internet chat rooms using the screen name "HydroOnDaDownLow." "Hydro" is the street name for hydroponically grown marijuana, which is considered more potent than other types of marijuana. Through his screen name, and thinly veiled comments in the chat room, the defendant would make it known to others in the chat room that he was selling marijuana. He would then take anyone interested into a private chat room where they could negotiate the terms of the sale. An undercover police officer agreed to buy marijuana from "HydroOnDaDownLow" and met him on the streets of Queens Village on four occasions purchasing more than a pound of marijuana over a five-week period between May 16 and June 23, 2000. A search warrant executed at the defendant’s College Point address found additional quantities of marijuana with paraphernalia for weighing and packaging the drugs.

Detective Kevin J. Kehoe and Sgt. Stephen Nicotra conducted the investigation under the supervision of Lt. Thomas O’Connell and Captain Scot Jandly of the New York Police Department’s Queens South Narcotics District.

Assistant District Attorney Philip Anderson of District Attorney Brown’s Narcotics Investigations Bureau, under the supervision of Bureau Chief Wilbert J. LeMelle, will prosecute the case.

It is to be noted that a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty.