A drug kingpin raked in practically $40,000 a month working a Wall Road-worthy operation close to Washington Sq. Park — hiring employee bees for set shifts and twice the variety of managers to supervise them, it was alleged in courtroom Tuesday.
Justin Barry, an ex-drug con, testified in Manhattan federal courtroom in regards to the intricate internal workings of the open-air market allegedly operated by John Livigni — who he claimed was chargeable for the well-known Manhattan park’s infamous yearslong drug drawback.
“I met him on West Eighth Road and Sixth Avenue,’’ Barry mentioned of the accused prolific vendor, who allegedly peddled heroin, fentanyl and crack cocaine and is now charged in two drug-related deaths over a six-month span in 2025.
One of many folks allegedly killed by Livigni’s medication was an 18-year-old “rising star” Colorado transplant who had simply arrived within the metropolis to work in a Broadway-linked internship program.
“We offered medication over there,” Barry mentioned of the hip neighborhood, which was allegedly territory for Livigni, who he claimed headed up the “Yellow Bag Boys” — a nickname for the crew that dealt crack in yellow baggage across the park.
Livigni’s trial kicked off as federal prosecutors branded him because the “chief” of a hoop that dealt numerous quantities of medication for a minimum of 20 years.
“The defendant was a frontrunner of a drug conspiracy that offered lethal unlawful medication round Washington Sq. Park,” Assistant United States Legal professional Remy Grosbard mentioned in her opening statements.
Barry, a recovering addict who first began working for Livigni in July 2023, introduced jurors into the world of the alleged drug operation, explaining tips on how to decipher what sort of medication have been what primarily based on their packaging — and explaining how profitable the enterprise was.
In response to the witness, Livigni had two kinds of workers who operated across the park: “employees” and “managers.”
A employee made the hand-to-hand change of medication to shopper, Barry mentioned — including that they labored anyplace from six to seven days every week, raking in as much as $500 a day.
Livigni additionally had managers to supervise the employee throughout their shifts, though they have been paid considerably much less — about $800 every week — as a result of they have been “protected” from the soiled fingers of the offers, in keeping with Barry.
The drug kingpin had their schedule divided in three shifts to cowl the morning, night and in a single day — which might be staffed with one employee and two managers per shift, Barry mentioned.
Jurors have been proven proof baggage containing a number of medication seized when Barry was arrested whereas working for Livigni in 2025 — together with color-coded baggies to determine every drug.
A number of packages that have been proven have been yellow, which Barry mentioned contained crack-cocaine. He estimated that they offered round 5 to 6 packs per shift, which tallied as much as $1,800 in gross sales every week alone.
However the cash maker — heroine and fentanyl, packed in light-blue envelopes — racked in as much as $7,000 in gross sales per week, Barry mentioned.
Barry, who pleaded out in a state drug case associated to the trial, is one among a number of witnesses anticipated to testify in opposition to Livigni, who was indicted with 18 others in October 2025.
The medication dealt by the crew, which additionally referred to as itself WSP Enterprise, led to 2 deaths that 12 months — together with 18-year-old Bailey Shaw of Colorado.
Livigni can be charged within the loss of life of a 43-year-old homeless one who’d been residing within the park.
Prosecutors have mentioned that the organized legal group was estimated to have distributed thousands and thousands of doses of opioids, together with fentanyl and heroin, in addition to crack cocaine, tied to a minimum of 65 overdoses within the in style park since 2020.
Livigni faces as much as life in jail if convicted of conspiracy to distribute narcotics leading to loss of life.
The trial will resume Wednesday.
