Chambers and Kovell were charged with running a cocaine operation out of the apartment. The two had previously been given notices for not paying rent, and the phone had been disconnected. Chambers appeared in court on December 18; according to the "New York Post", his lawyer filed "new papers elaborating on his psychiatric defense". The filing claimed that Chambers had become an addict at the age of 14 and was, by 2007, using 10 to 12 bags of heroin a day. It was also reported that he also used cocaine, was smoking marijuana and taking prescription drugs. Chambers planned to plead insanity. Prosecutors countered that Chambers was a drug dealer and had sold as much as $2,800 in heroin at a time to undercover police. Chambers faced life in prison on the drug charges.