Mercer County Man Sentenced In Large Scale Drug Ring: Authorities

A Mercer County man has been sentenced to 19 years in state prison for his role in a ring that marketed cocaine and designer drugs online and distributed them via the mail, Attorney General Gurbir S. Grewal announced.

Luke A. Atwell, 37, of Hamilton Township, previously pleaded guilty to a first-degree charge of leader of a narcotics trafficking network. He must serve 16 years of his sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Atwell admitted that he was a managing partner of the drug ring, which included 11 other people. The top three members of the ring have all pleaded guilty to first-degree charges.

Atwell’s partner, Christopher Castelluzzo, 33, of Lake Hopatcong, who formed the enterprise, also pleaded guilty to a first-degree charge of leader of a narcotics trafficking network on May 24. He faces a recommended sentence of 21 years in prison, with 18 years of parole ineligibility. He is scheduled to be sentenced on June 21.

Aldo T. Lapaix, 31, of Absecon, was sentenced on March 23 to 10 years in prison, including eight years, six months of parole ineligibility. He pleaded guilty on Aug. 28, 2017, to first-degree charges of racketeering and distribution of cocaine. Lapaix admitted that he helped procure drugs for the ring and handled the packaging and shipping of drugs.

Six of the other alleged drug ring members have already pleaded guilty and received or face prison sentences ranging from 5 to 10 years.

Jose Ruvalcaba, 30, of Oxnard, Calif., previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and was sentenced to seven years in prison. He is a tractor-trailer driver who was arrested by detectives of the Division of Criminal Justice in a parking lot off Union Turnpike in North Bergen. He was arrested along with alleged ring member Shazad Khan, 34, of North Bergen.

Detectives said they found approximately $1.2 million in cash in the trunk of Khan’s Infiniti, wrapped in bundles with duct tape. It was one of the largest cash seizures in New Jersey law enforcement history. Khan allegedly met Ruvalcaba so that Ruvalcaba could transport the cash as payment for cocaine.

They were all charged as part of a crackdown known as “Operation Skin Deep,” which began when a detective discovered the sale of cocaine while monitoring the activities of white supremacist groups in Atlantic City. The investigation into cocaine sales in Atlantic City ultimately exposed a network that was using the internet to arrange mail-order sales of cocaine and designer drugs, including ethylone, which is known as “M” and is similar to ecstasy.

“This sentence sends a loud and clear message to narcotics traffickers that if you choose to profit by spreading addiction in New Jersey and fueling street-level crime with your drugs, we will come after you and you will face hard time,” Grewal said. “I commend the detectives and prosecutors who pursued all the leads to bring these defendants to justice, beginning with drug sales in parking lots and back rooms in Atlantic City and ultimately exposing a statewide drug network that relied on the internet and mail delivery to distribute its corrosive wares.”

“Atwell and his partners were making millions of dollars using their unconventional business model for dealing drugs,” Director Veronica Allende of the Division of Criminal Justice said. “We have put them out of business and ensured with these prison sentences that they won’t be operating any illicit enterprises for many years to come.”

Castelluzzo was the primary leader who formed the enterprise. Atwell, as managing partner, was responsible for marketing the enterprise’s drugs on the internet, tracking and managing the gross receipts and expenses, dealing with customers, and keeping an inventory of the remaining drugs. Lapaix helped procure drugs for the ring to sell and handled the packaging and shipping of drugs.

Atwell would send computer files to Lapaix containing lists of orders, including screen-names of customers, their addresses, and the amount and type of narcotics that each customer ordered. When Lapaix received the files, he and two men who worked under him would weigh out the drugs, package them, create tracking information, and mail each of the orders.

Atwell would ensure all orders were properly filled. Lapaix obtained the supplies for packaging the orders and Atwell reimbursed him. Lapaix also engaged in street-level narcotics sales.

Search warrants executed at various locations yielded approximately a quarter of a million dollars in cash, diamond jewelry, gold bars, another quarter kilogram of cocaine, numerous rounds of ammunition, firearm silencers, cocaine testing, cutting and packaging materials, and related equipment, authorities said.

The attached image of Luke Atwell was provided by the Attorney General’s Office