By Tara Kyle and Shayna Jacobs
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — A pair of alleged drug dealers who promoted their 24-hour marijuana and cocaine delivery service using business cards reading "Coca Cola" and "Purple Rain ... Up in Smoke" were arrested Thursday, according to law enforcement officials.
Officers from NYPD's Manhattan South Narcotics Division arrested Thomas "Biggie" Zenon, 40, and Miguel "G" Guzman, 43, both of Washington Heights, on Thursday, following a three-month investigation into the alleged drug delivery operation, according to a press release from Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan.
Both men pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of charges of criminal sale of a controlled substance in the second and third degree at Manhattan Criminal Court Friday. Bail bond is set at $1 million or $750,000 cash.
The pair would distribute their their signature calling cards by paper-clipping them into free newspapers in boxes in the East Village, the Lower East Side and TriBeCa, authorities said. Cards were found in a New York University dorm as well as Tribeca high-rise apartment, Assistant District Attorney Erin Brzeski said.
The cards came in two designs — one featuring the traditional "Coca Cola" logo on a cherry red background with a cell phone number and the words "7 day a week, Still 3 a.m."
The other business card style carried the message "Purple Rain…Up in Smoke," and featured a silver sedan, according to officials.
Authorities learned of the delivery scam when one man found a card attached to a free Village Voice outside of a New York University dorm at 10th Street and Third Avenue, officials said.
The arrests came after undercover police bought cocaine and marijuana from Zenon and Guzman on a dozen separate attempts between October and January, officials said. The total street value of the drugs bought by NYPD officers was $4,250.
In one Nov. 23 sale inside Zenon's 2005 Ford Taurus, a policeman bought over a half an ounce of cocaine from him, according to Brzeski.
Guzman was apprehended Thursday on his way to a delivery on the Upper West Side, while Zenon was arrested inside a Washington Heights restaurant.
At the time of Guzman's arrest, police recovered 16 grams of cocaine, 20 bags of marijuana, four cell phones and the Coca-Cola business cards from his 2009 Buick LeSabre.
Police believe the duo's clientele of over 200 included students and other bar-goers in the East Village, the Lower East Side and TriBeCa. Authorities said the cell phone numbers listed on the business cards registered as many as 170 calls.
Both men have prior criminal records. Guzman, whose lawyer Barry Weinstein said is a former Ohio State football player, was convicted of an assault in 1987 and federal drug sale charges. Zenon has a 2005 federal cocaine distribution conviction.
Weinstein, who is also representing Zenon, argued that both defendents should receive a reasonable bail because they are charged with "street sales" rather than high-level drug offenses.
"These are not giants of the industry by the people's allegations," Weinstein said.
