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

MIDDLETOWN, NY — A drug trafficking operation involving firefighters and biker gangs was targeted Tuesday in a massive, coordinated series of raids in the Hudson Valley.

Among the people arraigned was Lt. Paul G. Smith, a career firefighter accused of being the ringleader of one drug trafficking operation. Leaders of the drug ring sometimes met in Middletown's Central Firehouse, said Orange County District Attorney David Hoovler.

"The building was used at times for various things," Hoovler said at a press conference Tuesday afternoon. "Significant events happened there."

Also accused is Mechanicstown Fire Department Chief Dominick Guardino.

Hoovler acknowledged to reporters that it was possible first responders who went out on calls involving drug overdoses had been responsible for selling those drugs. "I think it's reprehensible," he said.

More than 200 agents from the DEA, FBI and New York State Police took part in the pre-dawn raids. In addition to arrests, law enforcement officials recovered more than $200,000, 25 handguns, one assault rifle, multiple rifles, 10 vehicles, two motorcycles, over 2.5 pounds of cocaine and 1300 Fentanyl pills.

Felony complaints filed in conjunction with the enforcement action outline two separate conspiracies, one of which primarily involves members and associates of self-professed “outlaw” motorcycle clubs trafficking cocaine, and another of which involves the sale of narcotic pills which were represented to contain oxycodone, but which contained fentanyl, a highly addictive and frequently lethal narcotic.

Two defendants, Smith and Robert Dunham, are alleged to be members of both conspiracies.

Smith and two other men — Garey Michel and Marquis Gamble — were charged with second-degree conspiracy for operating as a major trafficker, the recordonline.com reported. Michel was said to have made more than $70,000 during a six-month period.

Members of the ring told their clients they were getting oxycodone, and the pills were designed to look like oxycodone. They were actually fentanyl, Hoovler said. "Fentynl is the number one cause of death from accidental overdoses in this county."

Police dubbed the investigation “Operation Bread, White and Blues” because, they said, the co-conspirators used the term “bread” to mean money they obtained through the sale of narcotics, “white” to represent the cocaine which was sold, and “blues” to represent the blue colored pills which were being trafficked.

The arrests and search warrant executions were as a result of a six-month-long narcotics investigation.

Smith, 48, of Deerpark, was also charged with Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance First Degree; Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance Second Degree; and Conspiracy Second Degree.

Dunham, 46, of Middletown, has been charged with crimes including Conspiracy Second Degree and Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance Second Degree, 4 counts, and is alleged to have been a member of both conspiracies.

Gamble, 34, of Nyack, has been charged with crimes including Operating as Major Trafficker, and is alleged to have been a "profiteer" in the conspiracy to sell cocaine. It is alleged that it was Gamble’s role in the conspiracy to provide cocaine to other members of the conspiracy. He is also being charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance First Degree; and Conspiracy Second Degree.

John Beltempo, 49, of New Windsor, who previously worked for the Village of Spring Valley Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s office and the Town of Wallkill Police Department was charged with Conspiracy Second Degree and is alleged to have participated in the conspiracy to sell cocaine.

Michel, 48, of the Town of Wallkill, has been charged with crimes including Operating as a Major Trafficker, and is alleged to have been a “profiteer” in the conspiracy to sell narcotic pills, which were marketed to buyers as containing oxycodone, but which contained fentanyl. He was additionally charged with Conspiracy Second Degree.

Additionally, Sunshine Wall, 40, of Cuddebackville, NY was charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance Seventh Degree and Nicholas V. Ciccone, 47, of Port Jervis was charged with Criminal Impersonation and Parole Absconder.

On Dec. 31, 2018, Kenneth Nunez, 39, of Spring Valley, was arrested and charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance First Degree. A subsequent felony complaint charges him with Conspiracy Second Degree and it alleges that this cocaine had been given to him by Marquis Gamble to deliver to Paul Smith.

The New York State Police and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office are requesting the public’s assistance in locating the following individuals:

• CHARLES KAVANAUGH, 31, Newburgh, NY
• GARY CALDWELL, 33, Wappingers, NY
• JUSTIN ANTONA, 27, Slate Hill, NY
• ANDREW BENDIG, 23, Middletown, NY

The New York State Police were assisted by the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, the Drug Enforcement Agency, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

HUDSON VALLEY, NY — The Federal Bureau of Investigation staged an early morning raid with coordinated strikes in Orange, Rockland and Westchester county, according to news reports.

They smashed down a door at a Nyack apartment complex before dawn, News12 reported.

More than a dozen people have been arrested, nbcny.com reported.

PHOTO: evidence from Feb. 4 drug raids/ NYSP