NEW YORK, NY. - John P. Gilbride, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Drug Enforcement (DEA) and United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian announced the unsealing of an indictment today in United States District Court charging 20 individuals who have been charged with conspiring to distribute an analogue controlled substance known on the street as “Molly." The large scale large drug trafficking conspiracy, based in central New York, with other co-conspirators located in Florida, California, Texas, Virginia and elsewhere. The drug traffickers were involved in a conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance analogue known on the street as “Molly." Sixteen of the 20 indicted were arrested early this morning, including the following:
William Harper, age 52, of Syracuse, NY,
Gerry Gero, age 38, of Syracuse, NY,
Melissa Tiffany, age 37, of Syracuse, NY,
Jeremy Allen, age 34, of Grapevine, TX,
Ernest Snell, age 41, of Syracuse, NY,
Charles Demott, Jr., age 44, of Liverpool, NY,
Kenneth Feria, age 40, of Hollywood, CA,
Rosario Gambuzza, age 46, of East Syracuse, NY,
Mary Oot-Gambuzza, age 48, of East Syracuse, NY,
ALICIA Mcmanus, age 25, of Hollywood, CA,
Jon Radway, age 32, of Pompey, NY,
Phillip Massara, Jr., age 27, of Clay, NY,
Lisa Vancamp, age 29, of Baldwinsville, NY, Jennifer Defio, age 34, of Syracuse, NY,
Rosario Sorbello, age 29, of Baldwinsville, NY,
Ryan Carter, age 31, of Syracuse, NY, and
Four defendants-Vincent Cizenski, Stephen Marshall, Matthew Mieszkowski, Jr., and Arafat Wahdan remain at large. Anyone with information regarding the four fugitives are asked to contact the Central New York Fugitive Task Force (315) 473-7625. All information provided to the Fugitive Task Force will remain confidential.
All of these individuals have been indicted by a federal grand jury with, among other charges, conspiring to possess with the intent to distribute and distributing 4-(4-MMC) and 4-Methyl-N-(4-MEC), often referred to as “Molly." 4-MMC and 4-MEC are controlled substance analogues of methcathinone, a Schedule I controlled substance. If convicted, the defendants face a term of imprisonment of up to 20 years, up to a $1 million fine, and at least three years of supervised release following any period of incarceration.
These prosecutions resulted from an investigation first undertaken in the Spring of 2009 by the Syracuse Resident Office of the DEA, the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office, the Syracuse Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Onondaga County District Attorney’s Office, the United States Marshals Service, the New York State Police, and the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York. The investigation, which included wiretaps on two of the defendants’ telephones, revealed that this “Molly" trafficking organization was responsible for the distribution of over 100 kilograms of “Molly" during the course of the conspiracy from March 2010 through April 2011. The “Molly," believed to be manufactured in factories in China, was shipped to distributors in the Syracuse area, as well as other areas in the United States, where it was then distributed to others by members of the conspiracy.
“Synthetic drugs such as ‘Molly’ are extremely dangerous and pose a significant health risk to those who abuse this substance. DEA and our law enforcement partners will continue to investigate any and all drug trafficking organizations that place lives at risk by selling these dangerous substances, " said DEA Special Agent John P. Gilbride.
To date, the following items have been recovered during this investigation: approximately 25 kilograms of “Molly," with a street value of at least $525,000; 24 guns; over $100,000.00 in U.S. currency; four vehicles; a Bayliner boat; and drug paraphernalia.
