NYPD: Trio had 531 decks of heroin when officers stopped them on the Staten Island Expressway

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. -- Two Staten Island men and a Brooklyn woman face felony charges after a car stop turned up 531 envelopes of heroin, police allege.

Frank Monte, 47, of the 200 block of Mill Road in New Dorp; Eduard Litvintsev, 24, of Joel Place in Richmond, and Robin Bancroft, 52, were pulled over on the Staten Island Expressway by Clove Road Monday afternoon, after failing to signal, police allege.

Police found the drugs in a plastic bag atop a purse on the front-passengers-side floorboard, court papers allege.

A law enforcement source said Litvintsev was behind the wheel. Monte had asked him to give him a ride to the Whitehall Ferry Terminal in Manhattan so they could pick up Ms. Bancroft, the source said, and they were on their way back from getting her.

All three are charged with third- and seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to information from District Attorney Daniel Donovans office.

Monte, who has already served two stints in state prison -- one for a 1994 burglary conviction, the second for a January 2009 felony drug possession conviction -- was out on $3,500 bail at the time of the arrest.

Back in October, he was accused of selling 300 small plastic bags of heroin to Edward Finnegan, 48, for $1,320 on Pelican Circle and Old Mill Road.

Monte pleaded guilty to felony attempted drug possession in December, records show. The law enforcement source said he was slated to be sentenced to 18 months in prison on April 29.

The case against Finnegan remains open.

See more here:
NYPD: Trio had 531 decks of heroin when officers stopped them on the Staten Island Expressway