DA: Suffolk Pair Charged in Massive Pot Bust

Two Suffolk County men will appear in a Riverhead court Wednesday morning to face a grand jury indictment for allegedly being the “central figures of a conspiracy to bring potent, high-grade strains of California-grown marijuana to Long Island for resale,” Suffolk County District Attorney Spota said.

According to Spota, Brian Poole, 27, of Bellport, was the ringleader of the operation and Eric Gomez, 29, of Calverton, was Poole’s chief reseller.

“During the course of this joint investigation, Poole arranged the monthly delivery of approximately 80 pounds of California marijuana to Suffolk County,” Spota said. His profits averaged from $500 to $800 per pound, depending on the strain of marijuana he chose to import to sell here.”

Both men were arrested June 10; Poole is being held in the county jail in lieu of $1 million cash bail and a parole hold; Gomez was released on his own recognizance after his initial arraignment on drug charges in district court.

Poole owns homes in Bellport (1522 Yarrow Circle) and Bay Shore (1442 Lombardy Boulevard) that were used as locations to prep the West Coast marijuana for sale to dealers and users in Suffolk County, Spota said.

At a news conference later Wednesday, Spota said the following would be on display:

• Hundreds of pounds of 11 different strains of California marijuana, the strains marketed with the names “Girl Scout Cookies,” “Chem Dawg,” “OG Kush,” “Death Star”, “Jedi,” “Grand Daddy Purples,” “Hash Train,” “Jack the Ripper,” “Cheese,” and “Green Crack.”
• Weapons - including a defaced, loaded handgun and an electronic stun gun, over $200,000 seized by law enforcement, all of it cash proceeds from pot sales, including the tens of thousands of dollars in cash that detectives found inside a child’s backpack in the trunk of alleged dealer Eric Gomez’s Camaro.
• The picture license plates Gomez specially ordered to use on his BMW will be displayed. The plate bears the letters “LIFTD” (street slang for getting high), next to the anti-drug message “Keep Kids Drug Free,” the picture selected by the defendant.
• Packaging materials, heat sealers, shipping boxes and other materials seized during the execution of search warrants

SCDA photos: Brian Poole (L) and Eric Gomez