Ex-pro basketball player Fly Williams among 13 charged in Brooklyn heroin bust

ByEyewitness News WABC logo
Thursday, May 4, 2017
James "Fly" Williams in a photo issued by the Brooklyn DA (left) and at a Austin Peay State University practice session in 1973
wabc-Photo/Brooklyn District Attorney's Office (left)/AP (right)

BROWNSVILLE, Brooklyn (WABC) -- A former pro basketball player is accused of dealing drugs as a part of a ring involving a dozen others in his former Brooklyn neighborhood.

James "Fly" Williams, who played professionally in the 1970s before retiring, used his fame in his old Brownsville neighborhood to sell heroin, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office.

Williams played in the American Basketball Association and Continental Basketball Association. He was drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers during the merger but never signed.

Photos: Mugshots of suspects arrested in Brooklyn drug bust

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The smoldering remains of a structure along Auberry Road, where Creek Fire tore through and jumped CA-168, on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2020, in Fresno County, California.
Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

He returned to Brownsville and parlayed that fame in the neighborhood where he was known as a street ball legend. He was listed as No. 3 on the Street Basketball Association's list of "50 Greatest Streetballers of All Time."

He vowed to spend retirement working with disadvantaged youth and operates a popular recreation center in Brownsville, but at the same time the Brooklyn D.A. said he made $2,000 to 3,000 a day selling heroin in the same neighborhood.

His son also is charged as part of the conspiracy, which netted 13 total arrests.

Here's a full list of names of people charged:

1. James "Fly" Williams, 65, of Jamaica Estates, Queens

2. Jeffrey Britt ("Doobie"), 34, of Flatlands, Brooklyn

3. Richard Rivera ("Cristiano"), 45, of Tremont, Bronx

4. Hanziel Martinez Cintron ("Johnny"), 39, of Belmont, Bronx

5. Marlon Campbell ("M"), 58, of East New York, Brooklyn

6. Leezet ("Baby Girl") Kelley, 45, of Crown Heights, Brooklyn

7. LaToya Mark, 37, of Flatlands, Brooklyn

8. Maurice McGhee ("MoJo"), 49, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

9. Charles Moore ("Light"), 57, of Bushwick, Brooklyn

10. Charles Morgan ("Rav"), 61, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn

11. Tyrone Munford ("Mo"), 55, of East New York, Brooklyn

12. Michael Rosoboro ("Mike Mike"), 61, of East New York, Brooklyn

13. James Williams, 36, of East Flatbush, Brooklyn