New Jersey Mother and Son Plead Guilty to Racketeering for Their Roles in Multi-Million Dollar Prescription Drug Ring

Newark narcotics network supplied OxyContin to Bronx, N.Y., ring

February 4, 2008 -- TRENTON – New Jersey 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.

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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.

Source: New Jersey Attorney General