Delco Pharmacist Ran Opioid Distribution Ring: U.S. Attorney

MEDIA, PA – Three Delaware County men, including a pharmacist, have been indicted on charges related to an illegal opioid distribution ring. Two of the three men are also accused of killing a co-conspirator in the ring for a bigger cut of profits, Acting United States Attorney Louis D. Lappen's office said Wednesday.

Matish Patel, 36, of Media, was charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone; one count of money laundering conspiracy, and three counts of tax evasion, Lappen's office said.

Anthony Vetri, 31, and Michael Vandergrift, 29, both of Delaware County, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. Both are also facing a murder charge related to the January 2012 death of Gbolahan Olabode, Lappen's office said.

The three were charged by superseding indictment that was unsealed recently, Lappen's office said.

In the indictment, Patel – a pharmacist who operated pharmacies in Delaware county and Philadelphia – is accused of diverting oxycodone from his pharmacies between 2008 and 2013 to co-defendants Vetri and Vandergrift and others, including Olabode, who co-owned pharmacies with Patel.

The indictment claims Vetri, Vandergrift, and Olabode sold the illegally distributed drugs on the street then gave profits to Patel.

The indictment also alleges Vetri and Vandergrift murdered Olabode on Jan. 4, 2014 outside Olabode's Lansdowne home to eliminate him as a drug rival and to increase their illegal supplies of oxycodone.

Michael Mangold was also charged separately in Olabode's murder, Lappen's office said.

Patel owned and operated Dava Pharmacy, Dava Pharmacy #2, and Drexel Hill Pharmacy in Delaware County where he ordered wholesale quantities of oxycodone for the three others to sell illegally, Lappen's office said.

Patel, Olabode, and others who were not named in the indictment allegedly deposited large amounts of currency generated from the unlawful distribution of oxycodone pills into several bank accounts associated with Dava Pharmacy, Dava Pharmacy #2, Drexel Hill Pharmacy, according to Lappen's office.

Patel and Olabode then allegedly wrote checks from the pharmacy bank accounts of Dava Pharmacy, Dava Pharmacy #2, Drexel Hill Pharmacy to themselves, falsely indicating on business records that the checks were for the return of equity contributions to the pharmacies, Lappen's office said. Those checks were then deposited into Patel and Olabode's personal bank accounts, Lappen's office said.

Lappen's office said Patel, Vetri, and Vandergrift face lengthy sentences should they be convicted.

The government is seeking forfeiture of more than $2.7 million in drug proceeds, and more than $1 million in laundered drug money from the trio, Lappen's office said.

The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division, the Philadelphia Police Department, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, the Lansdowne Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan B. Ortiz and David. E. Troyer.

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