louis gallicchio

Is the louis gallicchio in the article the same one as in the video at 4.28. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxpIe2043sM&feature=related

18 Charged in Drug Ring That Sold to Students

By JOHN HOLL

Published: November 12, 2004

LIZABETH, N.J., Nov. 11 - An associate of the Luchese organized crime family operated an illegal multistate prescription drug ring that employed members of the Bloods street gang, the Bonanno crime family and two New Jersey pharmacists to sell the addictive painkiller OxyContin to college students in the Boston area, prosecutors said on Thursday.


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The Luchese associate, Louis Gallicchio, 64, of Newark, was arrested early on Thursday on charges of conspiracy and other drug crimes for his role in running the operation, which began over a year ago and made as much as $150,000 a week, according to Theodore J. Romankow, the Union County prosecutor.

Under the scheme outlined by prosecutors, Clara Lightsey of East Orange, an associate of Mr. Gallicchio's whom prosecutors described as a professional drug dealer, would buy 1,500 to 2,000 OxyContin pills a week from two Newark pharmacies and from street dealers.

Ms. Lightsey, 46, sold the pills to Mr. Gallicchio, who sold them to Eric Love, 25, of Newark, a member of the Bloods street gang, and Jeffrey Froio of Chandler, Ariz., an associate of the Bonanno crime family, Mr. Romankow said. Those men, in turn, sold the pills to two college students and a third man in the Boston area. The pills were then sold to students at Massasoit Community College and Bridgewater State College for $80 to $100 per pill, Mr. Romankow said.

OxyContin generally sells for $10 to $15 per pill in pharmacies, according to prosecutors.

The two pharmacists involved, according to prosecutors, were Jacob Boadu, 45, of Parsippany, owner of Jacob's Pharmacy in Newark, and Steven Mensah-Narh, 42, of North Brunswick, who worked at the Colonial Health Pharmacy in Newark. They were charged with conspiracy to distribute OxyContin.

"Organized crime is not dead in New Jersey," Mr. Romankow said. "There are sometimes strange bedfellows. No one really expects there would be and is a connection between organized crime figures, street gang members and college students."

The undercover investigation, called Operation Dr. Feelgood, began nearly four months ago, Mr. Romankow said. On Thursday investigators recovered nearly 20,000 pills, $75,000 in cash, and several firearms from Ms. Lightsey's house, he said.

Investigators also found OxyContin pills at a Newark pawnshop owned by Mr. Gallicchio's son, Michael Gallicchio. He was charged with conspiracy to distribute OxyContin.

In all, 18 people who prosecutors said were associated with the drug ring were arrested on Wednesday and Thursday; 14 were from New Jersey. Mr. Gallicchio is being held on $1 million bail. An arraignment is scheduled for Monday. Arrests were also made in Arizona and Massachusetts.

OxyContin, a narcotic pain reliever similar to morphine, has become a popular street drug in recent years because of the euphoric feeling users can get by crushing the pills and then either injecting or snorting the drug, Mr. Romankow said.

Mr. Romankow said the investigation was continuing and that he expected additional arrests to be made in the coming days

Wow.that's alot of pills.ALOT OF PEOPLE were freakn out when this happened I bet.opiate withdrawal is 1ofa the worst feelings a person can have and alot of people don't get clean because they can't handle the withdrawal

Yeah well they took OC's off the streets and I don't know how many good kids I knew that are dead because of Heroin...

yep o.c. are off the street and the ones around are time released so the junkies cant get off but the domicans in the northeast are flooding the streets with the blue percocet 30 mlg.s how they get there hands on them what are they made in the republic.the young kids are smoking my older friends said the the fastest and strongest way to get high+addicted to opiates. they go for anywhere betwwen 10 bucks wholesale to 30 bucks loosely. crazy. i tell peolpe on them just ask your doc to sighn youself up for the methodone clinic its free and they'll help you try if you want to get clean.

anyone seen this. it gives a good overview of the drug trade in new york.

I also know a bunch of people who got fucked on the 'blues', a few got off but others are fucked. A childhood friend of mine did the switch from Oxy's to smack and ended up dead. Too fucked up. Most people I know would rather trust cokeheads than pill heads

Methadone clinics aren't free and there not trying to get you off.they want you to stay at the clinic and get tour money as long as possible.my aunts bf went to a clinic cus he was in smack.240mgs a day they gave him.he'd b so high he'd shit his pants in front of you nodding out and wrecked like 5carsto in a year.he was more fukd up then ever.im sure some people get the help they want and don't take alot.I know of 1person but all the others are in for the long haul.

I'm guessing pmac is from the UK or somewhere else where meth is free. I completely agree with you though Glasgow has a big heroin problem and half of the people who're prescribed meth end up taking heroin or other drugs like valium on top of it. It seems the only way to truly come off smack is to go cold turkey which must be one of the hardest things to do.

It is. Not for me personally but one of my best friends is an ex heroin addict. He got hooked by accident at a party, but he's said repeatedly withdrawal from H is the hardest and scariest things he's ever done. Apparently you get cold sweats, you can't eat or sleep, you hallucinate. Sometimes the withdrawal is bad enough you can die from it. Just not worth getting into. It'll fuckin ruin your life.

Exactly Joe, one of my best friends mum is an ex heroin addict, before or during her addiction she didn't drink but now she's an alcholic as well as taking meth and valium. It's really fucked her up, i've seen pictures of her in her 20's and she was stunning. Now she's in a bad way but just can't kick the drink no matter how much she tries.

I really feel for your friend especially if he was injected against his will (i presume that's what you meant?) i know a girl who that happened to who's only 2 years older than me she looks like she's slowly withering away, sad stuff.

My friends doing good actually Camarel. One of the few who's found a life after doing that shit. He was at a party and someone just thrust a needle in his arm and that's all it took. He still smokes joints every now and then but other than that he's straight as an arrow.

Personally I think meth is worse than heroin. From the photos I've seen it's enough to make you depressed for a few days. But you wanna talk about withering away look up Layne Staley from Alice in Chains. Amazing voice, hell of a singer and musician, he couldn't get off heroin. When they found his body he had already been dead two weeks and he was listed as six one 86 pounds.

Good to hear about your friend Joe he obviously was determined and had the willpower to come through it you still have to say he's one of the lucky ones though. It's good he took to weed instead of alcohol imo. The problem with meth is you're essentially on a completely clean doctors prescribed heroin, it's not designed to get you off heroin just to stabilize you during the process, sad thing is it very rarely works out that way imo .

If you don't mind me asking how did you'te friend get off it?

It's fine. He got clean completely cold turkey. Keep in mind this was back in high school. He's two years older than me so I was 16 and he was 18 at the time. For his senior year he got sent to a boarding school in the middle of nowhere in Virginia. He spent about three weeks going through withdrawal in a little room by himself, all the time the guy running the place said he was sick to cover it up. It's one of the reasons he can describe the effects so well and I think it's one of the reasons why he's been so successful in staying off of it.

- to your friend, at the time it must've been a disgusting and traumatic experience for him but i bet now he thinks it's probably the best thing that he's done (the coming off it btw).

Thanks Camarel. He would appreciate your support now doubt. He's in better shape than he's ever been in his life. Honestly he's one of the smartest fucking people I've met. He has what you call "basic common sense" and "intelligence" lol. But he's much wiser now he's off drugs. No one was happier than me when he came back clean.

Yeaaa thats my hood!

He's a lucky guy having a friend in his corner like you - to you.

Thank you Camarel much appreciated

all over massachusetts the blue percs rome. but when i talk about the methodone clinic's its all free, subuxone to. the big republican mitt romney as governer 2006 gave every MA resident free health care if they didnt have it all ready, so sorry rest of america you been paying for alot of drug habits and cures in the bay state. when i joind they were even paying for dental(cleanings,fillings,crowns,ect.)but them days are gone. my friends mom work at a small but great dr and she cook the books and i got some great work on the cheap. but long story short in mass the state will pay for your methodone or your diabettes insulin or my very expensive exzama creme my sisters yell. lol

How do u accidentally get addicted at a party.u don't got thru withdrawals after Getn high for 1nite.it takes days and days.and just shoving the needle in? You have to get the drugs in a vein otherwise they just bubble up under the surface of the skin until its absorbed into the muscleand tissue.im glad there clean but that's ridiculous.u don't accidentally get addicted cus of 1time and go thru withdrawal