Nineteen Alleged Members of Multi-million Dollar New Jersey Prescription Drug Ring Indicted

$4.4 Million in Assets Seized - Newark Narcotics Network Supplied OxyContin to Bronx, N.Y., Distribution Ring

August 2, 2007 -- TRENTON – New Jersey Attorney General Anne Milgram and Criminal Justice Director Gregory A. Paw announced that a state grand jury today returned an indictment charging 19 alleged members of a Newark-based narcotics ring, including its leader, with first-degree racketeering and other crimes in connection with the ring’s distribution of millions of dollars a year in illegal prescription painkillers such as OxyContin.

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As a result of the grand jury action, the Division of Criminal Justice obtained a court order today seizing $4.4 million in assets as proceeds of racketeering, including $3.6 million in real estate and a $95,000 Mercedes S-550 owned by the alleged leader of the ring, Mohamed Hassanain, 41, of West Orange. Also seized was nearly $600,000 found when investigators searched the home of Dr. Mario Comesanas in January. Comesanas pleaded guilty in March to first-degree racketeering and second-degree distribution of narcotics for writing thousands of fraudulent prescriptions for the ring. The charges resulted from an investigation by the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice, assisted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.

“The volume of illegal prescription painkillers put on the street by this Newark-based ring was alarming,” said Attorney General Milgram. “This criminal ring’s enterprise of distributing illegal pain pills was built with forged identities, fraudulent prescriptions and illegal purchases at pharmacies. Ultimately, their output of thousands of dangerous pills per week reached the streets of New Jersey, New York and Boston.”

According to Paw, the state grand jury returned a 34-count indictment charging all 19 defendants with first-degree racketeering, second-degree conspiracy (two counts), second-degree theft of identity, and third-degree forgery. The racketeering charge carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison and a criminal fine of up to $200,000. 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. A list of the defendants is attached, and the indictment is linked to this release at www.njpublicsafety.com.

“Today’s indictment resulted from a superb investigation by the State Police and the Division of Criminal Justice that targeted the top members of this multi-million dollar criminal enterprise,” said Director Paw. “We dismantled this dangerous ring with help from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and numerous other law enforcement partners. With this indictment, we bring those responsible one step closer to justice.”

“Those who traffic in illegal drugs come from all walks of life, but their devastating impact on society and individual lives remains the same,” said Colonel Rick Fuentes, Superintendent of the New Jersey State Police. “We are proud to have helped stop this sophisticated distribution ring and reduce the flow of illegal prescription drugs on our streets.”

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.

The indictment was handed up to Superior Court Judge Maria Marinari Sypek in Mercer County. The judge ordered the $4.4 million in assets seized and restrained under the racketeering forfeiture provisions of state law based on a finding by the grand jury that the assets were acquired or maintained with proceeds of the ring’s illegal activities.

>> View Indictment (76.7k pdf) plug-in

The indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

Second-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to 10 years in prison and a $150,000 criminal fine, while third-degree crimes carry a sentence of up to five years in prison and a $15,000 fine.

Attorney General Milgram credited detectives in the State Police Major Crime Unit and investigators in the Division of Criminal Justice - Organized Crime & Racketeering Bureau for leading the investigation. Supervising Deputy Attorney General Mark Eliades and Deputy Attorney General Mark Ondris presented the case to the grand jury.

Attorney General Milgram 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. She thanked the New Jersey Department of Corrections, Newark Police Department, West Orange Police Department, Livingston Police Department, Irvington Police Department Maplewood Police Department, Union Township Police Department and Essex County Sheriff’s Department for assisting in the arrests and execution of search warrants in January.

Defendants:

* Mohamed Hassanain
West Orange, NJ
DOB: 1/19/1966
* Ahmed Aly
Union, NJ
DOB: 4/16/1974
* William S. Leonard
Orange, NJ
DOB: 5/20/1951
* Will T. Jordon
Elizabeth, NJ
DOB: 02/16/1971
* Terry A. Brooks
Newark, NJ
DOB: 12/17/1975
* Tereke M. Hammond
Newark, NJ
DOB: 11/26/1976
* Enin Martin
Newark, NJ
DOB: 02/11/1980
* Woodrow Newton
West Orange, NJ
DOB: 06/25/1961
* Stephanie McLucas
Maplewood, NJ
DOB: 12/14/1952
* Jason Edwin Allen, Jr.
Newark, NJ
DOB: 12/11/1979
* Edwin Polanco
New York, NY
DOB: 09/08/1978
* Raul Cruz
Bronx, NY
DOB: 02/08/1979
* Ian A. Burrowes
Union, NJ
DOB: 02/06/1966
* Aaron Burrowes
Union, NJ
DOB: 07/03/1979
* Rick Terrell
Newark, NJ
DOB: 02/12/1950
* Tasheemah N. Tyson
Newark, NJ
DOB: 11/10/1980
* Kimyatta L. Jones
Newark, NJ
DOB: 05/06/1979
* Jashima Brice
Irvington, NJ
DOB: 01/10/1952
* Patricia Fudge
Newark, NJ
DOB: 11/06/1960

Assets Seized/Restrained as Proceeds of Racketeering

Real Property (Block / Lot -- Address -- Purchase Date -- Purchase $)

* 158.20(T) / 8 -- 30 Edgar Road, West Orange -- 7/14/2005 -- $525,000.00
* 3033 / 10 -- 332 Clinton Avenue, Newark -- 10/31/2005 -- $259,000.00
* 506 / 9 -- 56 Highland Avenue, Newark -- 11/17/2005 -- $300,000.00
* 56 / 6 -- 21 N. 18th Street, East Orange -- 12/1/2005 -- $245,000.00
* 1778 / 56 -- 196 So. 6th Street, Newark -- 12/15/2005 -- $145,000.00
* 3697 / 4 -- 47 Park View Terrace, Newark -- 12/19/2005 -- $335,000.00
* 3078 / 25 -- 18 Fabyan Place, Newark -- 12/23/2005 -- $238,500.00
* 116 / 80 -- 389 Halsey Street, Newark -- 12/28/2005 -- $85,000.00
* 1814 / 54 -- 222 S 11th Street, Newark -- 1/14/2006 -- $115,000.00
* 2692 / 11 -- 117 Ridgewood Avenue, Newark -- 1/30/2006 -- $310,000.00
* 2648 / 41 -- 796 South 14th Street, Newark -- 2/23/2006 -- $1.00
* 3027.01 / 8 -- 98-100 Osborne Terrace, Newark -- 3/10/2006 -- $234,600.00
* 2618 / 21 -- 661 South 11th St., Newark -- 4/18/2006 -- $460,000.00
* 3950 / 30 -- 214 Hawthorne Ave, Newark -- 6/14/2006 -- $320,000.00
* 257 / 6 -- 348 Springfield Avenue, Newark -- 7/7/2006 -- $65,000.00
* 246 / 16 -- 42 Quabeck Ave, Irvington -- 12/8/2006 -- $1.00

Total Value Real Property: $3,637,102.00

U.S Currency: $680,429

Vehicle: 2007 Mecedes S-550 -- $95,000

TOTAL VALUE ASSETS SEIZED / RESTRAINED: $4,412,531.00

Source: New Jersey Attorney General