Nassau Man With Guns, Drugs Hidden In Apartment Convicted

A Freeport man was convicted on Tuesday of 15 major felony charges after he was arrested following an apartment fire in 2016 that led police to his stash of drugs, guns and cash.

Tony McClam, 49, was convicted of two counts of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, four counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal possession of marijuana, two counts of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, three counts of third-degree criminal possession of a weapon and three counts of criminal possession of a firearm.

McClam is due back in court on May 8. He faces a maximum sentence of 39 years in prison.

“This defendant possessed huge quantities of drugs -- including heroin and fentanyl -- guns and almost a half million dollars in cash as part of the business of selling poison in our communities,” said Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas. “It took a fire to expose this operation and a jury to hold him responsible for it. I am committed to stopping the flow of drugs in Nassau County and this conviction is another step toward that goal.”

Around 7:50 p.m. on Sept. 24, 2016, Nassau County Police Department detectives and Freeport police responded to a fire in an apartment at the Wharfside Condominiums, located on Miller Avenue in Freeport. The first officer on the scene, who was also a volunteer fire fighter, grabbed a fire extinguisher and ran to the building. When the officer pushed the apartment door open, McClam came running out, wrestled the extinguisher from the officer and then ran back inside the burning apartment.

A short time later, the fire department arrived and put out the fire. While they were inside the apartment, the fire fighters found two speakers filled with money, drugs and guns.

After detectives questioned McClam, he fled on foot, and was later arrested on Oct. 18, 2016.

In his apartment, police found:

• Three guns
• Approximately 10 pounds of marijuana
• Approximately 1.5 kilograms of a combination of heroin and fentanyl
• Approximately one kilogram of fentanyl
• Approximately three ounces of heroin
• Four digital scales
• A money counter
• Homemade candles (used for the concealment of money and drugs)
• $446,280 cash

The street level value of the seized drugs totaled approximately $407,000.