The feds have just busted a prescription drug distribution ring based in Staten Island. The Staten Island Advance reports that 10 people—eight from S.I. and two from New Jersey—allegedly "used forged scripts and doctor-shopping to supply themselves and lower-level dealers" and are accused of "conspiracy to distribute oxycodone."
The ring dealt thousands of pills a month: "Though some members had customers of their own, largely, they supplied the drugs to lower level dealers, selling for about $20 a pill." One of the suspects, Angelique Sestito, is a nurse at Richmond University Medical Center and is married to a NYPD sergeant. The Advance reports that it's unclear whether she used her position to get drugs.
Two Staten Island men, Steven Punturieri and Louis D'Arpa, are accused of running the ring. U.S. Attorney Loretta Lynch said, "Oxycodone is addictive and potentially deadly if abused. With today's arrests we have taken a significant step in stopping alleged criminal activity that put the health and welfare of our communities at risk."
Yesterday, the police arrested a man accused of killing four people at a pharmacy before stealing over 11,000 oxycodone pills.
