Among 16 Charged With Hobbs Act Robbery and Drugs 1 Returns on VOSR Next In Patient

Among 16 Charged With Hobbs Act Robbery and Drugs 1 Returns on VOSR Next In Patient By Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon SDNY COURTHOUSE, March 24 – More than a dozen defendants were charged in a Hobbs Act robbery and narcotics conspiracy.           On June 14, 2021 U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein held a proceeding. Inner City Press covered it.   With so many defendants and counsel, the roll-call took a long time. It emerged that Levalle Maitland, in pre-trial detention in the Essex County Correctional Facility, had not been produced, and his lawyer said he couldn't reach him. It was decided to go forward.    Three trial dates were selected, splitting the group or conspiracy in two: March 28, 2022 for some, May 16 for others, and June 20 for still others. On January 5, 2022 Judge Hellerstein heard oral argument on possibly releasing co-defendant Nathaniel Croskey on bond. But Judge Hellerstein pointed out, as the AUSA did, that Croskey had fired a gun 10 times in the air; he said that the danger could not be addressed even by GPS monitoring.   On March 10 Judge Hellerstein accepted Croskey's guilty plea. And later on March 10 - past six pm, with Inner City Press the only media in the Magistrates Court - another co-defendant in the case was brought in. His lawyer consented to detention, "without prejudice." On April 3, 2023, lead defendant Spearman asked for the 10 year minimum sentence. His detailed sentencing memo quotes his partner that "his legs look like elephant legs." A co-defendant was acquitted after trial... On May 10, co-defendant Tristan Oliver was up for sentencing. Inner City Press was there. Judge Hellerstein sentenced him to 24 months, then asked when he'd like to self-surrender. After June 6, when his baby is due. Judge Hellerstein set the date for July 11 and wished Oliver well. On September 21, 2023, Judge Hellerstein sentenced lead defendant Kenneth Spearman to ten years. On November 18, defendant Francis whom Judge Hellerstein called the last remaining in the case, was brought into court. He had been presented from his hospital bed on November 15. Judge Hellerstein asked if the Claxton transcript could be given to Francis' CJA, and set a next conference for January 22, 2025. Jump cut to August 28, 2025 when co-defendant Wilson was ordered to surrender to the Probation Department on the 7th floor on September 8 at 10 am to begin in-patient treatment. On November 19 co-defendant Francis asked for 84 months, noting that the top-charged defendant in the case had his sentence commuted in an act of Executive clemency on January 17, 2025. On November 26 the US Attorney's Office wrote in, noting that Francis had been on the run under an assumed identity with drugs in his pocket and asked for 132 months on December 3. On December 3, he got 90 months: " 6 months on counts 1 & 3 to run concurrent and 84 months on count 4 to run consecutive; 3 years of Supervised Release." On March 24, 2026 Judge Hellerstein heard from one of the co-defendants, noting with empathy that the co-d recently lost his wife. He will be released from detention in the MDC as soon as an in-patient bed can be found. The overall case is USA v. Spearman, et al., 1:20-cr-631 (Hellerstein) *** Your support means a lot. As little as $5 a month helps keep us going and grants you access to exclusive bonus material on our Patreon page. Click here to become a patron. Feedback: Editorial [at] innercitypress.com SDNY Press Room 500 Pearl Street, NY NY 10007 USA Mail: Box 130222 NY NY 10013 Reporter's mobile (and weekends): 718-716-3540 Other, earlier Inner City Press are listed here, and some are available in the ProQuest service, and now on Lexis-Nexis.  Copyright 2006-2026 Inner City Press, Inc. To request reprint or other permission, e-contact Editorial [at] innercitypress.com