Lynn man eyed in crack ring

LYNN – Court documents indicate the case of a suspected crack cocaine and heroin dealer from Lynn could be upgraded from district court to superior court – implying the case could be headed to a grand jury.Police executed searches at the home of Steven Villafane, 26, at 185 North Common St. #7 and a room he allegedly rented at 3 Light St. about two weeks ago. He is currently being held without bail pending a May 15 hearing in Salem Superior Court.Authorities are not supposed to comment on grand jury proceedings.Villafane has allegedly used numerous aliases, including “Michael Rodriguez” and “Heriberto Cintron,” according to court papers.Police first searched Villafane’s apartment, in a building called “The Mayflower,” on March 16 when they allegedly caught him laying in bed with Sacha Christman, a 33-year-old woman who was arrested for prostitution as recently as this past Friday.After Villafane got dressed in the presence of officers, a police K-9 was brought in and indicated that Villafane had narcotics on his person even though he denied it. Police instructed Villafane to lower his underwear and when he did they found a clear plastic bag in the crevice of his buttocks, police said. It allegedly contained 30 smaller bags of crack cocaine and 10 smaller bags of heroin.Police also seized a cell phone and $626 cash from the suspect, according to police.In addition, police said they obtained several letters from a woman identified as “Rishelle Rodriguez” addressed to one of Villafane’s aliases. It allegedly said, “Baby, I can’t believe you already got $12,000 saved up. Dam u been on the grind hard.”Police believe Rishelle Rodriguez is actually Christman.Police zeroed in on 3 Light St., apt. 2, after finding a $120 receipt in Villafane’s home addressed to an alias for a room rented there.On March 17, detectives went to 3 Light to speak with the landlord. When they arrived, they happened to find Christman speaking with him too, according to court documents.Police took her aside and questioned her about Villafane’s connection to 3 Light, and she allegedly told them that Villafane hides as much as $10,000 at a time inside the room he rented.However, once police carried out a search warrant later that day only $1,000 was found in addition to five handwritten letters from Rishelle Rodriguez, four rent receipts for Heriberto Cintron and a Puerto Rican driver’s license for Cintron.Court documents indicate Villafane was arrested the day he was searched on North Common Street and charged with possession of heroin with intent to distribute, possession of crack cocaine with intent to distribute and drug violations in a school zone.The documents say police discovered one of Villafane’s aliases was flagged by Immigration and Customs Enforcement for possibly being an illegal immigrant. However, the documents don’t say what country he is originally from.