A South Side drug crew distributed business cards for “Nova’s Exotic Beverages” to advertise the fentanyl and cocaine they sold from a Chatham apartment while storing inventory, cash, and firearms, including machine gun conversion devices, at a nearby stash house, according to newly unsealed federal court records.
Tarrell “Patone” Smith and Deshawn “30” Powell ran the operation with the help of Joshua Thomas and Bernard Spencer, according to a complaint filed by an ATF agent. A confidential informant and undercover officers began making controlled purchases from the crew late last year and those buys allegedly continued into February.
In a criminal complaint, an ATF agent said the group sold narcotics primarily from an apartment in the 900 block of East 82nd Street while using another apartment in the 7900 block of South Ellis Avenue to store drugs, money, and weapons that included machine gun conversion devices…