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TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that five people were sentenced
to state prison today as members of a Jersey
City-based drug ring that trafficked prescription
pain pills in Hudson, Monmouth, Morris,
Ocean and Bergen counties. The leader of
the ring, Louis Lisi, has pleaded guilty
and faces a 24-year prison sentence, including
12 years of parole ineligibility.
According
to Acting Insurance Fraud Prosector Chillemi,
the five defendants sentenced today were
charged as a result of Operation MedScam,
an investigation by the Jersey City Police
Department’s Special Investigation
Unit and the Office of the Insurance Fraud
Prosecutor’s Medicaid Fraud Control
Unit. On July 6, Lisi, 32, of Union City,
pleaded guilty to leading a narcotics trafficking
network, and Clifton Howell, 54, a doctor
who had an office in Jersey City, pleaded
guilty to health care claims fraud. They
are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 2.
Howell faces four years in prison. Another
doctor, Magdy Elamir, 58, of Saddle Brook,
is scheduled for trial in September in the
case. The five defendants who were in court
today were sentenced to a total of 23 years
in state prison.
“The
illicit sale and abuse of addictive painkillers
has been an increasing problem in our communities
in recent years, posing a deadly threat
to young people as well as adults,”
said Attorney General Dow. “Today,
five people who contributed to that threat
were sent to state prison.”
“These
criminal networks are driven by illicit
profits at both ends – in the medical
offices and pharmacies, where licensed professionals
bill Medicaid in connection with fraudulent
prescriptions, and on the street, where
there is a lucrative black market for pain
pills,” said Director Taylor. “We
will continue to target such criminal enterprises
with aggressive investigations and prosecutions.”
“Our
partnership with the Jersey City Police
Department in this wide-ranging investigation
has yielded 35 convictions to date, including
the leader of this narcotics ring, a doctor,
three pharmacists and numerous street-level
drug dealers,” said Acting Insurance
Fraud Prosecutor Ronald Chillemi. “With
investigations of this type, our Medicaid
Fraud Control Unit takes aim at both Medicaid
fraud by licensed professionals and criminals
distributing dangerous narcotics on our
streets.”
“The
Jersey City Police Department, in cooperation
with the Division of Criminal Justice, is
targeting a problem that is growing both
here in New Jersey and throughout the country,”
said Jersey City Police Chief Thomas Comey.
“We will remain relentless in our
pursuit of drug dealers, even if they have
medical or pharmacy licenses.”
These
five defendants, each of whom pleaded guilty
in 2010, were sentenced to state prison
today by Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan
in Hudson County:
- Brian
Kelly, 50, of Hoboken, was sentenced
to six years in prison, including three
years of parole ineligibility, for distributing
Percocet and conspiring to commit health
care claims fraud.
- Lauren
Cardinale, 29, of Union City,
was sentenced to three years in prison
for distributing Percocet and conspiring
to commit health care claims fraud.
- Mark
Cerello, 28, of North Bergen,
was sentenced to five years in prison,
including 20 months of parole ineligibility,
for distributing OxyContin.
- Joseph
Burkhart, 51, of Rutherford,
was sentenced to five years in prison,
including 15 months of parole ineligibility,
for possessing and distributing Percocet.
- Orlando
Rosario, 47, of Jersey City,
was sentenced to four years in prison
for conspiring to distribute OxyContin.
Deputy
Attorneys General Debra A. Conrad and Cynthia
M. Vazquez of the Division of Criminal Justice
Medicaid Fraud Control Unit represented
the state at the sentencing hearing.
Since
October of 2009, 35 people, including doctors
and pharmacists, have been arrested and
have pleaded guilty in the joint investigation,
which uncovered a major criminal narcotics
network based in Hudson County that distributed
thousands of black market prescription pills
such as Oxycontin and Percocet. The network
was obtaining fraudulent narcotics prescriptions
and filling them at various pharmacies.
The network distributed the prescription
pain pills throughout Hudson County and
other parts of the state, including Monmouth,
Morris, Ocean and Bergen counties. A single
30 milligram OxyContin pill, known as a
“blue” typically sells for $10
to $20 on the street, while a 10 milligram
Percocet pill sells for $5 to $8. In pleading
guilty, Lisi admitted that his organization
sold hundreds of pills in one week.
Detective
Kevin Gannon, Sgt. Frederick Weidman, Deputy
Attorney General Conrad and Deputy Attorney
General Vazquez were assigned to the investigation.
They were assisted by Deputy Attorney General
Erik Daab, Analyst Mitzi Gross, Analyst
Anne Howell, and the following members of
the Jersey City Police Department’s
Special Investigation Unit under the supervision
of Chief Thomas Comey: Capt. Gary Lallo,
Lt. Frederick Younger, Sgt. Anthony Musante,
Sgt. Wally Wolf, Detective Wael Shahid,
Detective Jeff Guilfoyle, Detective Vincent
Disbrow, Detective Hector Marrero, Police
Officer Alex Torres, Police Officer Chris
Dolan, Police Officer Eamon Nally and Police
Officer Erik Infantes. Deputy Attorney General
Carol Stanton Meier is handling the asset
forfeiture action.
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