TRENTON
– Attorney General Anne Milgram and
Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw
announced that a mother and son pleaded
guilty today to racketeering charges for
their roles in a Newark-based narcotics
ring that distributed millions of dollars
a year in illegal prescription painkillers
such as OxyContin.
According
to Director Paw, Stephanie “Sara”
McLucas, 54, of Maplewood, pleaded guilty
today to first-degree racketeering and third-degree
failure to file tax returns before Superior
Court Judge Michael J. Nelson in Essex County.
Her son, Jason Edwin Allen Jr., 27, of Newark,
pleaded guilty to second-degree racketeering.
Under the plea agreements, the state will
recommend sentences of 12 years in state
prison for McLucas and seven years in prison
for Allen. Both are required to cooperate
in the state’s ongoing investigation,
and McLucas forfeited $22,090 seized from
her home by investigators as racketeering
proceeds.
The
judge scheduled April 18 as the sentencing
date for McLucas and Allen.
In
pleading guilty, McLucas admitted she was
a runner for the ring who generated lists
of names that were used by a Livingston
doctor to write fraudulent prescriptions
for painkillers. She admitted she filled
those prescriptions at pharmacies to supply
the ring, and that she failed to file state
tax returns. Allen also admitted to being
a runner for the ring who filled false prescriptions.
On
Aug. 2, the Division of Criminal Justice
obtained a state grand jury indictment charging
19 alleged members of the Newark-based ring,
including its alleged leader, Mohamed Hassanain,
41, of West Orange with first degree-racketeering
and other charges. Hassanain also was charged
with being a leader of a narcotics trafficking
network, a first-degree charge that carries
a sentence of life in prison. Some of the
defendants, including Hassanain, face various
other charges including second-degree drug
and weapons offenses.
The
charges resulted from an investigation by
the State Police and the Division of Criminal
Justice, assisted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement
Administration. Supervising Deputy Attorney
General Mark Eliades and Deputy Attorney
General Mark Ondris are prosecuting the
case and took today’s pleas for the
Division of Criminal Justice – Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau.
Dr.
Mario Comesanas, 51, of Livingston pleaded
guilty in March 2007 to first-degree racketeering
and second-degree distribution of narcotics
for writing thousands of fraudulent prescriptions
for the ring.
In
pleading guilty, Dr. Comesanas, 51, of Livingston,
admitted he went to Hassanain’s home
on Edgar Road in West Orange to write thousands
of fraudulent painkiller prescriptions.
Hassanain’s cousin, pharmacist Ahmed
F. “Felix”Aly, 33, of Union,
is alleged to have knowingly filled the
forged prescriptions at his pharmacy, RGN
Pharmacy on Elizabeth Avenue in Newark.
He was charged in the indictment. Hassanain,
who sometimes uses the alias Mohamed Aly,
allegedly ran the ring from his business,
Lyons Avenue Auto Sales on Clinton Avenue
in Newark, as well as his home. Those three
men were arrested on Jan. 26, when warrants
were issued for most of the defendants.
The
investigation, which began in mid-2006 and
was dubbed “Operation Pandora,”
determined that the network sold 20,000
to 30,000 OxyContin and Percocet pills per
week, with most going to a distribution
ring based in the Bronx, N.Y. The Bronx
ring in turn sold some of the drugs to a
distribution ring in the Boston area. Approximately
22,000 prescription pills were seized in
January when officers executed search warrants
at a number locations used by the Newark
ring.
Hassanain
and his deputies allegedly provided up to
several hundred names a week to Dr. Comesanas,
who allegedly was paid $100 per name to
write a “set” of prescriptions,
including 60 OxyContin pills, 90 Percocet
pills and vitamins. Vitamins allegedly were
included to make the prescriptions appear
more legitimate. Hassanain and his deputies
allegedly used numerous “runners”
to fill the prescriptions at various pharmacies
using fraudulent identifications. It is
alleged that the defendants also forged
identification documents and that certain
defendants laundered money to further their
criminal activities.
As
a result of the grand jury action in August,
the state obtained a court order seizing
$4.4 million in assets as proceeds of racketeering,
including $3.6 million in real estate, a
$95,000 Mercedes S-550 owned by Hassanain,
and nearly $600,000 found when investigators
searched the home of Comesanas in January.
A
full list of the indicted defendants can
be found in the Aug. 2 press release at
the Attorney General’s Web site: www.njpublicsafety.com.
The indictment is merely an accusation and
the other defendants are presumed innocent
until proven guilty.
Attorney
General Milgram credited detectives in the
State Police Major Crime Unit and investigators
in the Division of Criminal Justice - Gangs
& Organized Crime Bureau. She also credited
the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration
New Jersey Division, under the direction
of Special Agent in Charge Gerard P. McAleer,
the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office,
members of the NY/NJ High-Intensity Drug
Trafficking Areas program, and the New York
State Police for assisting the investigation.
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