BUFFALO, NY—U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr.
announced today that Will Johnson, 31, of League City, Texas, pleaded
guilty before U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny to conspiracy to
possess with intent to distribute, and to distribute, kilograms of
cocaine and to money laundering conspiracy. Johnson was arrested along
with 17 others in August 2010 for narcotics trafficking. The drug
conspiracy charge against Johnson carries a mandatory minimum penalty of
10 years in prison up to life, a $5,000,000 fine, or both; and the
money laundering conspiracy carries a penalty of up to 20 years in
prison, a $250,000 fine, or both.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Catherine Baumgarten, who is handling
the case, stated that Johnson, originally from the city of Buffalo,
obtained kilograms of cocaine in Houston and then utilized others to
distribute that cocaine in the Buffalo and elsewhere in the Western New
York. In July 2010, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at
locations including an apartment leased by Johnson in Missouri City,
Texas, and his residence located in League City, Texas. Agents seized
cocaine and plastic wrappers consistent with the packaging of kilograms
of cocaine, $55,000, one .44 caliber loaded handgun, and boxes of
assorted rounds of ammunition.
The investigation further revealed that Johnson deposited and
transferred funds generated as a result of his drug trafficking through
and to financial institutions, such as when he paid approximately
$13,000 to a used car lot in Buffalo to purchase a 2004 Escalade motor
vehicle. Johnson also arranged to have cash deposits of $20,000 into
bank accounts, which thereafter were used as a down payment for his
residence in League City, Texas.
As part of the plea, Johnson agreed to forfeit $203,000 in drug
proceeds, including $57,000 seized by law enforcement officers in the
state of Texas in July 2010, along with a firearm and various
ammunition.
The plea is the result of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement
Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Brian R.
Crowell, New York Field Division; the Federal Bureau of Investigation,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Christopher M. Piehota;
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations,
under the direction of Special Agent in Charge James C. Spero; the
Niagara County Drug Task Force, under the direction of Sheriff James
Votour, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation, under the
direction of Special Agent in Charge Toni Weirauch; and the Niagara
Frontier Transportation Authority Transit Police, under the direction of
Chief George Gast.
Sentencing is scheduled for April 10, 2013, at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Skretny.
COEUR D’ALENE—Nicholas P. Allman, 22, of Kamiah, Idaho,
was arraigned yesterday in United States District Court on a charge of
involuntary manslaughter, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Allman
was indicted on November 15, 2012, by a federal grand jury sitting in
Boise. His trial has been set for February 19, 2013, before Chief U.S.
District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Coeur
d’Alene.
The indictment alleges that on October 29, 2011, Allman was driving
recklessly and under the influence of alcohol on Harris Ridge Road,
which is located on the Nez Perce Indian Reservation. The indictment
alleges that because Allman failed to keep his vehicle on the roadway, a
passenger, James Oatman Jr., was killed when the vehicle wrecked.
If convicted, Allman faces up to eight years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release.
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Idaho State Police, and Nez Perce Tribal Police.
An indictment is a means of charging a person with criminal activity.
It is not evidence. The person is presumed innocent until proven guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
MADISON, WI—John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for
the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Antwon Taylor, 20,
Beloit, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge
William M. Conley to 36 months in federal prison, to be followed by 36
months’ supervised release, for distributing heroin. Taylor was charged
with four counts of distributing heroin in the Beloit area in January
through July 2011. Taylor pleaded guilty to one of the counts on October
23, 2012.
At the sentencing, Judge Conley noted the dangerousness and negative
impact upon the community that heroin distribution presents. However,
Judge Conley determined that Taylor deserved a sentence below the 57-71
months called for by the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines based, in part, on
Taylor’s lack of any prior criminal record and his youth.
The charges against Antwon Taylor were the result of an investigation
conducted by the FBI Safe Streets Task Force, which consists of the
Beloit Police Department, Rock County Sheriff’s Office, and Federal
Bureau of Investigation. The prosecution of the case has been handled by
Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.
TAMPA—A federal jury yesterday found Emmanuel I. Mekowulu
(56, Tampa) guilty of conspiring with other persons to knowingly and
intentionally distribute and dispense a controlled substance, primarily
Oxycodone, outside of a legitimate medical purpose and not in the usual
course of professional practice. Mekowulu faces a maximum penalty of 20
years in federal prison. As part of the sentence, he will also forfeit
his Florida Department of Health Pharmacist License and the DEA
Registration and Florida Department of Health Pharmacy License for Felky
Rx LLC, which were used to commit or facilitate the offense.
Mekowulu was indicted on April 26, 2012. His sentencing is scheduled for March 11, 2013.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, in June 2008
through March 2009, Mekowulu was a pharmacist and the owner of Felky
Pharmacy located on North Florida Avenue in Tampa, Florida. During that
same time period, Troy Wubbena was a physician’s assistant and owner and
operator of the Neurology & Pain Center clinics located in Tampa,
Lakeland, Sarasota, Orlando, and Jacksonville. Brett Ridenour was an
employee of the clinics. Together, and with others, the conspirators
used hundreds of blank prescriptions that were pre-signed and filled by
Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander (co-owner of the clinic) for large quantities of
oxycodone. The prescriptions included the names of over 60 persons,
many of them patients and employees of the clinics who did not need or
receive the oxycodone and were unaware that the prescriptions were
written in their names. The illegal prescriptions were filled at Felky
Pharmacy. Over the nearly 10-month period, Wubbena and Ridenour
presented over 340 fraudulent prescriptions to Mekowulu. Mekowulu filled
the prescriptions without verification or questioning their validity.
Through this scheme, nearly 50,000 pills of oxycodone were later sold in
the Tampa Bay area.
Wubbena and Ridenour, who testified against Mekowulu at trial,
previously pleaded guilty to federal charges for their roles in the
conspiracy. Wubbena was sentenced to serve 10 years in federal prison.
Ridenour was sentenced to serve five years’ imprisonment. Friedlander
pleaded guilty for his role in the conspiracy in March 2010. He was
sentenced to nine years in prison.
This case was investigated by and the United States Department of
Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General, the Federal
Bureau of Investigation, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.
It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kathy J. M.
Peluso.
WASHINGTON—A former clinical director for Biscayne
Milieu, a Miami-based mental-health clinic, was sentenced today to 100
months in prison for his participation in a Medicare fraud scheme
involving the submission of more than $50 million in fraudulent billings
to Medicare, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of
the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Wifredo A.
Ferrer of the Southern District of Florida; Michael B. Steinbach, Acting
Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Miami Field Office; and Special
Agent in Charge Christopher B. Dennis of the U.S. Department of Health
and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG), Office of
Investigations Miami Office.
Rafael Alalu, 47, of Miami, was sentenced today by U.S. District
Judge Robert N. Scola, Jr. in the Southern District of Florida. Alalu
was convicted on August 24, 2012, of one count of conspiracy to commit
health care fraud and two substantive counts of health care fraud,
following a two-month jury trial. The evidence at trial showed that
Alalu participated in treating ineligible patients, concealing that fact
by falsifying patient files and writing fraudulent group therapy notes
and instructing others to do the same. In addition to the prison term,
Alalu was ordered to pay more than $5.6 million in restitution, jointly
and severally with his co-defendants.
Various owners, doctors, managers, therapists, patient brokers, and
other employees of Biscayne Milieu have also been charged with various
health care fraud, kickback, money laundering, and other offenses in two
indictments unsealed in September 2011 and May 2012. Biscayne Milieu,
its owners, and more than 25 of the individual defendants charged in
these cases have pleaded guilty or have been convicted at trial. Antonio
and Jorge Macli and Sandra Huarte—the owners and operators of Biscayne
Milieu—and Dr. Gary Kushner—its medical director—were each convicted at
trial of various offenses and are scheduled for sentencing in March
2013.
According to the evidence at trial, the defendants and their
co-conspirators caused the submission of over $50 million dollars in
false and fraudulent claims to Medicare through Biscayne Milieu, which
purportedly operated a partial hospitalization program (PHP)—a form of
intensive treatment for severe mental illness. Instead, the defendants
devised a scheme in which they paid patient recruiters to refer
ineligible Medicare beneficiaries to Biscayne Milieu for services that
were never provided. Many of the patients admitted to Biscayne Milieu
were not eligible for PHP because they were chronic substance abusers,
suffered from severe dementia and would not benefit from group therapy,
or had no mental health diagnosis but were seeking exemptions for their
U.S. citizenship applications. The evidence at trial showed that once
these ineligible patients were admitted to Biscayne Milieu, Alalu and
others concealed the fraud by falsifying patients’ group therapy notes
to reflect legitimate PHP treatment that was never provided and directed
others to do so.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael
Davis and Marlene Rodriguez of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Southern District of Florida and by Trial Attorney James V. Hayes of the
Fraud Section of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. The case
was investigated by the FBI with the assistance of HHS-OIG and was
brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of
Florida in coordination with the Medicare Fraud Strike Force, supervised
by the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
Since its inception in March 2007, the Medicare Fraud Strike Force,
now operating in nine cities across the country, has charged more than
1,480 defendants who have collectively billed the Medicare program for
more than $4.8 billion. In addition, HHS’s Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services, working in conjunction with HHS-OIG, is taking steps
to increase accountability and decrease the presence of fraudulent
providers.
To learn more about the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT), go to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
SAN FRANCISCO—Cuong Mach Binh Tieu was sentenced
yesterday to 220 months in prison for his leadership role in a
large-scale racketeering and narcotics conspiracy, United States
Attorney Melinda Haag announced.
“The four-year investigation by the FBI, DEA, California Department
of Justice, Bureau of Gambling Control, and the IRS that gave rise to
this case was a model of federal and state law enforcement cooperation,”
said U.S. Attorney Haag. “The lengthy sentence handed down by Judge
Breyer should send a strong message to those who would participate,
structure, and lead organized criminal enterprises in our communities.”
Tieu, 42, of Hercules, California, was originally charged along with
14 other individuals following the March 2, 2011 execution of a series
of arrest and search warrants across Northern California, including
searches at Oaks Card Club in Emeryville, California, and Artichoke
Joe’s Casino in San Bruno, California. Along with Tieu, the indictment
charged other members of the criminal enterprise, including drug
dealers, drug couriers, loan sharks, and casino employees. Tieu’s close
associate, Skyler Chang, was previously sentenced to 144 months in
prison by Judge Breyer for his role in trafficking methamphetamine and
ephedrine for the organization.
On June 19, 2012, Tieu pleaded guilty to 10 felony counts, including
conspiracy to conduct the affairs of a racketeer influenced corrupt
organization (RICO), conspiracy to manufacture methamphetamine and
ecstasy, and conspiracy to distribute cocaine. The investigation
revealed that Tieu served as a leader for a criminal enterprise that
regularly used the cash drawers at both Oaks Card Club and Artichoke
Joe’s Casino to finance illegal activity, primarily drug purchases. On
June 30, 2009, Tieu used $30,000 from Oaks Card Club to purchase 25
kilograms of ephedrine, which he intended to use to manufacture
methamphetamine and ecstasy. In addition to drug trafficking, Tieu’s
criminal organization worked with casino employees to openly engage in
loansharking on the floor with both casinos. The loan sharks regularly
charged 10 percent interest a week for the loans distributed in the
casinos.
The sentence was handed down by United States District Court Judge
Charles R. Breyer. Judge Breyer also sentenced Tieu to a five-year
period of supervised release and a $1,000 special assessment.
Aaron Wegner and Robert Rees are the Assistant U.S. Attorneys
prosecuting the case, with the assistance of paralegal Michelle Alter
and legal technicians Erica Doerr and Marina Ponomarchuk. The
prosecution is the result of an investigation led by the Federal Bureau
of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration, who worked
together with the California Department of Justice, Bureau of Gambling
Control, and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The investigation was
conducted and funded in part by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement
Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates
long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.
Preet Bharara, the United States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York, announced that Diana Williamson, a doctor
who supplied an oxycodone trafficking organization with fake
prescriptions that were filled using Medicaid dollars, was sentenced
today in Manhattan federal court to 36 months in prison. Williamson pled
guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and one count
of conspiracy to commit health care fraud on March 8, 2012. U.S.
District Judge Loretta A. Preska imposed today’s sentence.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara stated, “Like heroin, oxycodone
is a powerful, highly addictive, and potentially lethal drug. In the
proper hands, it can play an important role in pain management, but
Diana Williamson saw an opportunity to profit from the drug’s popularity
with recreational users. By writing bogus prescriptions that were
filled using Medicaid dollars, she not only engaged in drug trafficking
and fraud, she also endangered users at risk of becoming addicts and
harming themselves through drug abuse. She violated the central tenet of
being a doctor—to first do no harm—and cheated an already strapped
Medicaid system out of almost a million dollars.”
According to the Indictment and other court documents, as well as statements made during proceedings in the case:
Between September 2009 and August 2010, Williamson, a Manhattan-based
primary care physician, wrote oxycodone prescriptions to patients who
had no legitimate need for the medication. Co-defendant Lenny Hernandez
recruited individuals to obtain oxycodone prescriptions from Williamson,
helped the individuals fill the prescriptions, and arranged to resell
the oxycodone to third parties. According to records obtained from the
New York State Office of the Medicaid Inspector General, over the course
of the conspiracy Medicaid reimbursed nearly $1,000,000 in drug
expenses attributable to the oxycodone prescriptions Williamson
prescribed. Analysis of patient prescription data and surveillance
during the course of the investigation established that approximately
11,000 oxycodone pills were obtained through health care fraud and
distributed by members of the conspiracy.
* * *
In addition to the prison term, Judge Preska sentenced Williamson,
56, of Manhattan, to three years of supervised release. The defendant
was also ordered to pay a fine of $17,500 and restitution and forfeiture
in the amount of $301,360.
All eight of Williamson’s co-defendants have pled guilty and have
been sentenced. Hernandez, who helped Williamson run this oxycodone
ring, was sentenced by Judge Preska to 87 months in prison.
Mr. Bharara thanked the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug
Enforcement Administration, the New York City Police Department, the New
York State Office of Medicaid Inspector General, and the New York City
Human Resources Administration for their assistance in the case.
This matter is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin Anderson and Shane T. Stansbury are in
charge of the prosecution.
SEP 28 (LONG ISLAND,
N.Y.) Earlier
today, a superseding indictment
was unsealed charging Long Island
physician William J. Conway with
causing the deaths of two patients
through the distribution of the
highly addictive pain-killer
oxycodone. The superseding indictment
also charges Conway’s former
office assistant, Robert Hachemeister,
with conspiracy and distribution
of oxycodone. Hachemeister was
arrested by federal agents this
morning and is scheduled to be
arraigned later today before
United States District Judge
Leonard D. Wexler, at the U.S.
Courthouse in Central Islip,
New York.
The charges and arrest were announced
by Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent
in Charge of the Drug Enforcement
Administration, New York Field
Office, Loretta E. Lynch, the United
States Attorney for the Eastern
District of New York, and Thomas
V. Dale, Commissioner, Nassau County
Police Department.
On June 6, 2012, as part of a
federal and state prescription
drug abuse initiative within the
Eastern District of New York, Conway
was arrested by members of a task
force comprising DEA special agents
and Nassau County Police Department
detectives on charges of illegally
distributing oxycodone to numerous
individuals between 2009 and 2012.
Conway has been in custody since
his arrest. According to court
filings and records of the New
York State Bureau of Narcotics
Enforcement, Conway issued 5,554
oxycodone prescriptions – 782,032
pills – to numerous individuals
between January 2009 and November
2011, who the defendant knew were
addicted to drugs and without performing
any meaningful medical examination.
The charges announced today are
merely allegations, and the defendants
are presumed innocent unless and
until proven guilty. During the
execution of a federal search warrant
at his offices on February 29,
2012, Conway voluntarily surrendered
his DEA registration authorizing
him to prescribe controlled substances.
However, he continued to issue
prescriptions after that date.
The superseding indictment unsealed
today charges Conway
with causing the deaths
of two Long Island men to whom
he had distributed oxycodone. According
to court filings by
the government: (1) On April 23,
2011, Giovanni
Manzella died of an overdose of
oxycodone less than 48 hours after
Conway provided him with two prescriptions
totaling 450 pills
of the drug; and (2) On October
27, 2011, Christopher Basmas was
pronounced dead of an overdose
of oxycodone and other narcotics
two days after Conway provided
him with a prescription for 180
pills of oxycodone.
Patient records seized in this
case reveal that patients who obtained
oxycodone prescriptions received
nothing more than perfunctory examinations,
essentially consisting of notations
of the patient’s height,
weight and blood pressure. After
Basmas’s death, Conway allegedly
attempted to alter various patient
files, and continued to issue prescriptions
for oxycodone and other controlled
substances, in some instances in
the names of individuals he had
never treated or even met. Hachemeister,
who worked as an office assistant
for Conway since approximately
1995, possesses no medical or nursing
degree. However, between 2011 and
2012, he allegedly distributed
thousands of oxycodone pills using
prescription pads that were pre-signed
by Conway. Hachemeister is charged
with conspiring with Conway to
illegally distribute oxycodone,
and both men are charged together
in 34 counts of distribution of
oxycodone. Conway is also charged
in eight additional counts with
the distribution of the controlled
substances hydrocodone and alprazolam.
“Sworn to do no harm, Conway
allegedly turned his back on his
patients’ real needs and
turned instead to the pursuit of
easy money. The charges unsealed
today reflect the tragic consequences
of prescription drug trafficking
and abuse,” stated United
States Attorney Lynch. “This
Office, with its state and federal
law enforcement partners, will
continue to attack this menace
which has risen to epidemic proportions
in our nation and in our communities.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Crowell
stated, “Today’s indictment
signifies that the abuse of prescription
drugs can lead to death from a
doctor’s office or from distribution
on the streets. In this case, these
individuals allegedly abused the
sanctuary of a doctor’s office
in order to illegally prescribe
pain medication for the use of
abuse and drug distribution.”
Nassau County Police Commissioner
Dale stated, “The Nassau
County Police Department will continue
to work closely with both state
and federal agencies through the
use of the Tactical Diversion Squad
created to combat the ever increasing
rise in the illegal use of prescription
drugs. Our focus will be to investigate
and arrest all individuals involved
in illegally supplying prescriptions
to drug addicted patients with
full knowledge of their dependency.”
If convicted of causing the Manzella
or Basmas deaths, Conway faces
a mandatory-minimum of 20 years’ imprisonment
and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Both Conway and Hachemeister face
a maximum sentence of 20 years
in prison on the remaining charges.
The government’s case is
being prosecuted by Assistant United
States Attorneys Sean C. Flynn
and Michael P. Canty. In January
2012, the United States Attorney’s
Office for the Eastern
District of
New York and the DEA,
in conjunction with
the five District Attorneys in
this district, the Nassau and Suffolk
County Police Departments, and
the New York City Police Department,
along with other key federal, state,
and local government partners,
launched the Prescription Drug
Initiative to mount a comprehensive
response to what the
U.S. Department of Health and Human
Services’ Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention
has called an epidemic increase
in the abuse of so-called opioid
analgesics. So far, the Prescription
Drug Initiative has brought over
100 federal and local criminal
prosecutions, taken civil enforcement
action against a pharmacy, removed
prescription authority from numerous
rogue doctors, and expanded information-sharing
among enforcement agencies to better
target and pursue drug traffickers.
The Initiative is also involved
in an extensive community outreach
program to address the abuse of
pharmaceuticals. DEA and its national,
tribal, and community partners
will hold a fifth National Prescription
Drug Take Back Day at thousands
of collection sites across the
country on Saturday, September
29th, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Anyone
with expired, unused, or unwanted
prescription drugs can environmentally
dispose of them at locations found
at www.dea.gov. The Defendants:
WILLIAM J. CONWAY
Age: 69
Residence: Flushing,
NY
ROBERT HACHEMEISTER
Age: 67
Residence: Baldwin,
NY
OCT 05 (NEWARK, N.J.) – Robert G. Koval, Acting
Special Agent in Charge of the New Jersey Division of the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) announced a longshoreman was sentenced
Friday in U.S. District Court to180 months in prison for his role in an
international drug smuggling conspiracy which led to the seizure of more
than 1.3 metric tons of cocaine, valued at over $34 million.
This was the result of a multi-agency investigation
which included Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) New Jersey
Division, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland
Security Investigation’s (HSI) Border Enforcement Security Task Force
(BEST), Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI) with
the assistance of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
Shon Norville, 40, of Brooklyn, N.Y., was sentenced
Monday by U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero to 15 years in federal
prison and five years of supervised release. In addition, Norville was
ordered to forfeit more than $180,000 in illegal proceeds to the United
States.
According to court records, the initial arrest of
Norville October 5, 2010, was the result of an investigation into a
Panamanian drug trafficking organization (DTO) that was importing
hundred-kilogram shipments of cocaine. The cocaine was hidden inside
shipping containers traveling through the Panama Canal destined for the
Port of New Jersey/New York. It was then distributed in and throughout
the Bronx and Manhattan, among other places. During the course of the
investigation, federal and Panamanian law enforcement authorities
identified a freight forwarding operation that removed the cocaine-laden
containers from secure areas of the Port, and seized more than 1.3
metric tons of cocaine from the Panamanian DTO and at the Port itself,
valued at over $34 million.
The investigation later identified a local DTO, led
by Norville, which received hundreds of kilograms of cocaine smuggled
into the United States from Panama in shipping containers. Norville used
his access to the Port and his relationships with other longshoremen,
to bribe longshoremen to remove the drugs from shipping containers upon
the cocaine’s arrival in the United States. An extensive wiretap
investigation revealed that Norville smuggled or attempted to smuggle
over 125 kilograms of cocaine, worth over $3 million wholesale, into the
United States in 2010 via shipping containers. Law enforcement agents
recovered two guns and hollow-point bullets from Norville’s residence
when he was arrested in October 2010.
Norville pleaded guilty May 18, 2012, to the charge
of conspiring to distribute five kilograms or more of cocaine before
U.S. Magistrate Judge Theodore H. Katz.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Howard Master and Sarah Paul, Southern District of New York, prosecuted the case.
OCT 22 (TRENTON, N.J.) – Robert G. Koval, Acting
Special Agent in Charge of the New Jersey Division of the Drug
Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Paul J. Fishman, the United States
Attorney for the District of New Jersey, announced a doctor who
allegedly wrote illegal prescriptions for oxycodone, today admitted to
participating in a conspiracy to distribute the medication illegally.
Jacqueline Lopresti, 52, of Fair Haven, N.J., pleaded
guilty before Judge Freda L. Wolfson to an Information charging her with
one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and 11 counts of
distribution of oxycodone.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Oxycodone is the active ingredient in brand name pills
such as Oxycontin, Roxicodone and Percocet. It is a Schedule II
controlled substance – meaning that it has a high potential for abuse.
It has a currently accepted medical use with severe restrictions. Abuse
of the drug may lead to severe psychological or physical dependence.
In 2009, Lopresti issued prescriptions to
co-conspirators for drugs containing oxycodone, outside the usual course
of medical practice and not for any legitimate medical purpose. The
prescriptions were filled at various pharmacies located in and around
Monmouth, Ocean, and Atlantic counties, N.J., and redistributed by
others.
The charge to which the defendant pleaded guilty is
punishable by a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1
million fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30, 2013. U.S. Attorney
Fishman credited the N.J. DEA Tactical Diversion Squad, composed of DEA
special agents, diversion investigators and intelligence analysts; FBI
and IRS special agents; and local law enforcement officers from the
Essex County Sheriff’s Bureau of Narcotics, Newark Police Department,
Elizabeth Police Department, Clinton Township Police Department, and
Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney R. Joseph Gribko of the U.S.
Attorney’s Office in Trenton.
NOV 21 (PATERSON, N.J.) - Attorney General Jeffrey
S. Chiesa announced the arrest of the alleged ringleader and 14 other
defendants in the takedown of a major narcotics supply network that
allegedly was distributing millions of dollars in heroin out of a
number of heroin processing “mills” and stash houses in Paterson
yesterday. Arrest warrants are outstanding for two other defendants
who remain fugitives.
Attorney General Chiesa made the
announcement in Paterson at the Passaic County Sheriff’s Office with
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor, Sheriff Richard H.
Berdnik, Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell of the U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, Acting Special Agent in
Charge Robert G. Koval of the DEA’s New Jersey Division, and Capt.
William Riggins of the New Jersey State Police. The arrests stem from
“Operation Dismayed,” a six-month investigation by the Division of
Criminal Justice Gangs & Organized Crime Bureau, Passaic County
Sheriff’s Office and DEA New York Division. The New Jersey State
Police and DEA New Jersey Division assisted.
Last week, on Nov. 13 and 14, a
multi-agency force, led by the Division of Criminal Justice, was
deployed in Paterson and Prospect Park to arrest the alleged drug
suppliers and raid their heroin processing and stash houses. Detectives
searched 10 residences and one vehicle in the investigation, seizing
three kilos of bulk heroin, another kilo of heroin packaged in
thousands of glassine envelopes for individual sale, and about $255,000
in cash. The bulk heroin has a “wholesale” value of more than
$300,000, and could have sold for in excess of $1 million once cut and
individually packaged for sale on the street. The drug network is
believed to have supplied multiple kilos of heroin per week to other
suppliers and large-scale dealers. They did not generally sell to
street-level dealers. The ring allegedly distributed heroin to dealers
in northern New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
The ring’s alleged leader, Segundo Garcia,
36, of Prospect Park, was charged with leading a narcotics trafficking
network, a first-degree crime that carries a sentence of life in
prison, including 25 years without parole. He was also charged with
first-degree distribution of heroin, first-degree possession with
intent to distribute, and second-degree conspiracy. All other
defendants were charged with first-degree possession of heroin with
intent to distribute or second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin.
“Drug dealing is at the heart of the crime
and violence plaguing Paterson and our other cities, so taking down
major drug suppliers like these defendants, who we allege were
polluting our communities by distributing millions of dollars in
heroin, will have a real impact on public safety and quality of life,”
said Attorney General Chiesa. “We will continue to pursue these
proactive, multi-agency investigations that take aim at the ringleaders
and the main sources of narcotics, not just street-level dealers.”
“This investigation dismantled the Segundo
Garcia heroin trafficking organization operating in New York and New
Jersey,” said Special Agent in Charge Crowell of the DEA New York
Division. “Heroin trafficking organizations are the primary threat to
our region and are fueled by the diversion of pain medicine. The
tenacity of investigators assigned to this task force has prevented
hundreds of thousands of glassines from being distributed to our
communities throughout the region. I highly commend the task force team
for their efforts on behalf of the public they are sworn to serve.
They completely dismantled multiple heroin mills and removed the
dangerous threat of alleged significant drug traffickers from our
community.”
“We allege that these drug suppliers
operated multiple stash houses around Paterson, as well as heroin mills
where they cut the heroin and packaged it into bricks – bundles of
about 50 ten-dollar glassine envelopes or ‘bags’ of heroin, ready for
distribution on the streets of our cities,” said Director Taylor of the
Division of Criminal Justice. “In addition to the three kilos of bulk
heroin we seized, we seized nearly 500 bricks of heroin, each with a
street value of several hundred dollars.”
“This was a true multi-agency operation,”
said Passaic County Sheriff Berdnik. “I commend the Attorney General
for the coordination his office provided in making these arrests
possible. I feel strongly that the only way to truly reduce narcotics
trafficking and street crime is by arresting the individuals involved in
creating and implementing the distribution network. This operation
will certainly go a long way in reducing drug trafficking in Passaic
County.”
Investigators seized 1.5 kilos of heroin, a
kilo of cocaine, and packaging materials and equipment from an alleged
heroin mill located on the first floor of 447 East 21st Street in
Paterson. The cocaine has a street value of approximately $35,000.
They seized an additional 1.5 kilos of heroin and $220,000 in cash from
a second mill located on the first floor of 246 Maryland Avenue in
Paterson. Workers clad in aprons and surgical masks allegedly worked
at these and other locations to cut, process and package heroin for the
network.
Garcia, a Dominican national, served more
than five years in federal prison for drug dealing beginning in 2000.
He was subsequently deported by federal immigration authorities, but
re-entered the U.S. illegally and allegedly established his large-scale
heroin distribution network in Paterson. A second man, Wilfredo
“Willie” Morel, 39, of Paterson, allegedly worked with Garcia to obtain
large quantities of heroin and also exercised independent leadership
control over other members of the supply network. He was charged with
second-degree conspiracy to distribute heroin.
Three of the defendants arrested allegedly
served as “middle managers” for the heroin supply network under Garcia
and Morel, helping direct the payment of monies and re-supplying of
heroin to the wholesalers. They were charged as follows:
Carlos Gomez, 35, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Malcolm “Gorilla” Hayes, 44, of
Paterson. Distribution of Heroin (1st degree), Possession of
Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree), and Conspiracy to
Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Rigoberto Perez, 33, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Five defendants allegedly served as lower-level managers and suppliers. They were charged as follows:
Alvin Alba, 24, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Braulio Minaya, 27, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Wendy Taveraz, 30, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Christopher Lee Cox, 27, of Pittsburgh, Pa. Possession of Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Franchot J. Keeling, 40, of Paterson.
Possession of Heroin with Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Cox and Keeling were arrested on Oct. 11
on Route 80 when investigators stopped the Dodge Caravan in which they
were traveling. Execution of a search warrant revealed 425 bricks of
heroin in the van. Another 65 bricks of heroin were seized last week
in a search of Minaya’s house on Danforth Avenue.
The other seven defendants who have been
arrested or are being sought on warrants were alleged workers in the
supply network who were involved in processing, packaging and
transporting heroin. They were charged as follows:
Manuel Almonte, 44, of Paterson.
Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree). *Almonte is a
fugitive being sought on a warrant.
Leonardo “Flaco” Flores, 53, of Paterson. Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree).
Francisco Hidalgo, 56, of Paterson.
Conspiracy to Distribute Heroin (2nd degree). *Hidalgo is a
fugitive being sought on a warrant.
Randolph Breton, 34, of Brooklyn, N.Y. Possession of Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Abraham Diaz, 44, of New York City. Possession of Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Robin Vargas, 19, of Paterson. Possession of Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Bienvenido Rodriguez, 40, of New York
City. Possession of Heroin With Intent to Distribute (1st degree).
Almonte and Flores are taxi drivers who
allegedly transported members of the network and heroin to and from the
various locations used by the criminal enterprise.
The investigation was conducted for the
New Jersey Division of Criminal Justice by Detective Travis Johnson,
who was the lead detective, and other members of the Gangs &
Organized Crime Bureau, under the supervision of Lt. Christopher
Donohue, Sgt. Ho Chul Shin, Deputy Attorney General Annmarie Taggart
and Deputy Attorney General Lauren Scarpa-Yfantis, who is Deputy Bureau
Chief. The investigation was conducted for the Passaic County
Sheriff’s Office by its Narcotics Enforcement Bureau, with assistance
from other member of the Sheriff’s Office. The investigation was
conducted for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration by DEA Group D-32
with assistance from members of DEA Division 30 and DEA Newark
Division.Attorney General Chiesa thanked the New
Jersey State Police Intelligence Section for its valuable assistance in
the investigation.
The arrested individuals were lodged in the
Passaic County Jail. Bail for Garcia was set at $350,000 cash, with a
bail source hearing required. Cash bails were set for the other
defendants ranging from $125,000 to $250,000, with bail source hearings
required in every case.
The complaints that were filed are merely accusations and the
defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The charges will
be presented to a grand jury for potential indictment. The charge of
leader of a narcotics trafficking network carries a sentence of life in
prison, including 25 years without parole, and a criminal fine of up to
$750,000. The charge of first-degree possession of heroin with intent
to distribute carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in prison and a
fine of up to $500,000. Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of five to
10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000.
NOV 28 (ALBANY, N.Y.) - Eric Canori, 33, of
Saratoga Springs, New York, was sentenced yesterday, November 27, 2012
by Chief United States District Court Judge Gary L. Sharpe, in Albany
to 30 months of imprisonment for his role in a marijuana distribution
conspiracy, announced Brian R. Crowell, Special Agent in Charge of the
U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), New York Field Division and
United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian. Canori, who had entered a
guilty plea on June 6, 2011 to one count of conspiracy to distribute
100 or more kilograms of marijuana, was also sentenced to four years of
supervised release following his term of imprisonment. Canori was
ordered to report to a designated Bureau of Prisons facility on January
8, 2013.
“Drug trafficking never ends with a pot of
gold at the end of a rainbow. Nothing good comes from doing something
bad, especially cross country drug distribution,” DEA SAC Brian R.
Crowell stated. “This marijuana drug distribution conspiracy was
unraveled and dismantled from coast to coast. Our task forces across
the country see to it that traffickers will lose their ill-gotten
profits from selling drugs and endangering our communities.” SAC
Crowell commended our dedicated task force partners who worked this
investigation from the west coast, through the heartland, to our
Capital region.
Beginning in or about 2008, Canori was a
part of a marijuana distribution conspiracy that involved the
cross-country trafficking of marijuana from the West Coast to various
destinations on the East Coast, including Saratoga County. During the
course of the conspiracy, several hundred pounds of marijuana was
trafficked. In June 2009, investigators executed search warrants at
Canori’s residences in Wilton, New York and Ross, California and
recovered currency, marijuana, and drug packaging materials. Subsequent
investigation led to the additional recovery of precious metals that
were proceeds of the conspiracy. Ultimately, investigators recovered
over $11.28 million in proceeds of the conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Hartunian praised the
outstanding cooperative efforts of the federal, state, and local law
enforcement agencies who participated in this investigation. U.S.
Attorney Hartunian noted that his Office “will continue to work closely
with the federal, state, and local authorities to prosecute
individuals and organizations that engage in marijuana trafficking and
other criminal activity throughout the Northern District of New York.”
This case was investigated by the Capital
District Drug Enforcement Task Force; the New York State Police; the
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Central District of Illinois; the Quad
City Metropolitan Enforcement Group; the Henry County, Illinois State’s
Attorney’s Office; the DEA Rock Island, Illinois Post of Duty; the DEA
Norfolk, Virginia Resident Office; and the Illinois State Police.
NOV 28 (BUFFALO, N.Y.) - U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration Special Agent in Charge Brian R. Crowell, New York Field
Division and U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. announced that
Daniel C. Gillick, 62, a physician residing in Youngstown, N.Y., and
Christine D. Guilfoyle, 27, also of Youngstown, were arrested and
charged by criminal complaint with a misdemeanor charge of possession
of crack cocaine. The charge carries a maximum sentence of one year in
prison and a $100,000 fine.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy C. Lynch,
who is handling the case, stated that on November 27, 2012, special
agents with the Drug Enforcement Administration stopped a vehicle
driven by Christine Guilfoyle and found her in possession of a quantity
of crack cocaine. According to the complaint, after her arrest,
Guilfoyle told agents that she purchased the drugs for Daniel Gillick
and that the two of them were going to use the crack cocaine that
night.
Agents later obtained a federal search
warrant for Daniel Gillick’s residence, located at 230 Main Street,
Youngstown, New York. During the execution of the search warrant,
agents seized paraphernalia consistent with drug use, as well as other
evidence.
Gillick and Guilfoyle made an initial
appearance this afternoon before Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott. Bond
for Gillick was set at $5,000. Guilfoyle was detained pending placement
in an inpatient drug treatment program. The defendants are due back in
court on November 30, 2012 at 2:00 p.m.
The Criminal Complaint is the result of an
investigation on the part of Special Agents of the United States Drug
Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Brian R. Crowell,
Special Agent in Charge, New York Field Division, Special Agents of the
Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent
in Charge Christopher M. Piehota, the Amherst Police Department, under
the direction of Chief John Askey, the Buffalo Police Department,
under the direction of Commissioner Daniel Derenda, the Lancaster
Police Department, under the direction of Chief Gerald Gill, the Erie
County Sheriff’s Department, under the direction of Sheriff Timothy
Howard, the Depew Police Department, under the direction of Chief Stan
Carwile, and the Niagara County Sheriff’s Drug Task Force, under the
direction of Sheriff James Votour.
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an
accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless
proven guilty.
