Guilty Pleas Entered In Cocaine, Narcotics Conspiracy

MIDDLETOWN, NY — Guilty pleas have been entered in major cocaine and narcotic pill distribution conspiracy cases. Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler said Monday that three defendants, including Paul Smith, 48, of Deerpark, pleaded guilty to felony charges in connection with the enforcement action called "Operation Bread, White and Blues."

Smith, at the time of his Feb. 5 arrest, had been a paid lieutenant with the City of Middletown Fire Department.

The indictments from the operation consisted of two separate conspiracies, one involving members and associates of self-professed "outlaw" motorcycle clubs trafficking cocaine and another which involved the sale of narcotic pills which were represented to contain oxycodone, but which contained fentanyl, a highly addictive and frequently lethal narcotic.

Most of the people said to be involved in the operations were arrested in a series of early morning raids and search warrant executions Feb. 5.

Smith pleaded guilty to second-degree operating as a major trafficker and second-degree conspiracy in connection with the conspiracy to distribute cocaine through the "outlaw" biker clubs.

SEE ALSO: Firefighters, Bikers Ran Drug Rings in Orange, Rockland: DA

Pursuant to the plea agreement, Smith will receive a sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in state prison for the conspiracy charge and concurrent time for the trafficker charge.

Additionally, Smith agreed to forfeit $325,000 he made from selling cocaine, as well as a 2014 Dodge Ram pickup truck, a 2008 Corvette and a 2012 Harley Davidson motorcycle that he used to transport the drugs.

He is scheduled next to be in court July 10.

Samuel Marino, 30, of Campbell Hall, also pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy. He will be sentenced to five to 15 years in state prison July 10.

Raymond Chong, 49, of Middletown, pleaded guilty to second-degree conspiracy to sell pills containing narcotics and will be sentenced July 10.

He is the fifth member of that conspiracy to plead guilty to felony charges.

On Feb. 20, Salvatore Distefano, 36, of Westtown; Desmon Pierson, 36, of Middletown; and, Melissa Delrosso, 35, of Middletown, each pleaded guilty before Orange County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown to the class B felony of second-degree conspiracy and the class E felony of fourth-degree conspiracy. Dominick Guardino, 55, of Middletown, who was the Mechanicstown Fire Department Chief at the time of his arrest, pleaded guilty to the class E felony of fourth-degree conspiracy and the misdemeanor of fifth-degree conspiracy. All those defendants admitted that they agreed with others to possess and sell narcotic pills. Each admitted that it was their role in the conspiracy to receive and redistribute narcotics. Distefano, Pierson Delrosso and Guardino are scheduled to be sentenced on July 10, 2019.

On Feb. 5, members of the New York State Police Community Narcotics Enforcement Team aided by the New York State Police Special Operations Response Team and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, had executed multiple search warrants and made over twenty arrests throughout Orange and Rockland counties.

The arrests and search warrant executions were as a result of a six-month-long narcotics investigation. Law enforcement officials recovered more than $200,000, 25 handguns, one assault rifle, multiple rifles, ten vehicles, two motorcycles, over 2.5 pounds of cocaine and 1,300 Fentanyl pills.

Leaders of the drug ring sometimes met in Middletown's Central Firehouse, Hoovler said.

“As a firefighter and first responder, Paul Smith knows better than most the dangers involved in ingesting the narcotics that he and those he admitted were his co-conspirators were selling,” Hoovler said. “It is unconscionable that someone who is paid to help others would be peddling these substances. Narcotics trafficking is destroying the fabric of our society, killing our residents and must be fought at every level. It is only through enforcement actions such as 'Operation Bread, White and Blue' that law enforcement is able to pursue those higher level drug dealers and craftier offenders who attempt to insulate themselves from criminal liability by dealing drugs through intermediaries.”

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