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Sentences range from 3 to 6 years

Five New Jerseyans were sentenced to state prison on Monday as members of a Jersey City-based drug ring that trafficked prescription pain pills in Hudson, Monmouth, Morris, Ocean and Bergen counties.

The five, each of whom pleaded guilty in 2010, were sentenced by state Superior Court Judge Kevin G. Callahan in Jersey City.

Brian Kelly, 50, of Hoboken, was sentenced to six years, including three years of parole ineligibility, for distributing Percocet and conspiring to commit health care claims fraud.

Lauren Cardinale, 29, of Union City, was sentenced to three years for distributing Percocet and conspiring to commit health care claims fraud.

Mark Cerello, 28, of North Bergen, was sentenced to five years, including 20 months of parole ineligibility, for distributing OxyContin.

Joseph Burkhart, 51, of Rutherford, was sentenced to five years, including 15 months of parole ineligibility, for possessing and distributing Percocet.

Orlando Rosario, 47, of Jersey City, was sentenced to four years for conspiring to distribute OxyContin.

The leader of the ring, Louis Lisi, 32, of Union City, has pleaded guilty and faces a 24-year prison sentence, including 12 years of parole ineligibility.

According to state Acting Insurance Fraud Prosector Chillemi, the five sentenced ton Monday were charged as a result of Operation MedScam, an investigation by the Jersey City police Special Investigation Unit and the Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor's Medicaid Fraud Control Unit.

On July 6, Lisi pleaded guilty to leading a narcotics trafficking network, and Clifton Howell, 54, a doctor who had an office in Jersey City, pleaded guilty to health care claims fraud. They are scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 2. Howell faces four years in prison. Another doctor, Magdy Elamir, 58, of Saddle Brook, is scheduled for trial in September in the case.

"The illicit sale and abuse of addictive painkillers has been an increasing problem in our communities in recent years, posing a deadly threat to young people as well as adults," state Attorney General Paula T. Dow said. "Today, five people who contributed to that threat were sent to state prison."

"These criminal networks are driven by illicit profits at both ends – in the medical offices and pharmacies, where licensed professionals bill Medicaid in connection with fraudulent prescriptions, and on the street, where there is a lucrative black market for pain pills," state Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor said. "We will continue to target such criminal enterprises with aggressive investigations and prosecutions."

"Our partnership with the Jersey City Police Department in this wide-ranging investigation has yielded 35 convictions to date, including the leader of this narcotics ring, a doctor, three pharmacists and numerous street-level drug dealers," Chillemi said.

"With investigations of this type, our Medicaid Fraud Control Unit takes aim at both Medicaid fraud by licensed professionals and criminals distributing dangerous narcotics on our streets."

Since October of 2009, 35 people, including doctors and pharmacists, have been arrested and have pleaded guilty in the joint investigation, which uncovered a major criminal narcotics network based in Hudson County that distributed thousands of black market prescription pills such as Oxycontin and Percocet.

The network was obtaining fraudulent narcotics prescriptions and filling them at various pharmacies. The network distributed the prescription pain pills throughout Hudson County and other parts of the state, including Monmouth, Morris, Ocean and Bergen counties.

A single 30 milligram OxyContin pill, known as a "blue" typically sells for $10 to $20 on the street, while a 10 milligram Percocet pill sells for $5 to $8. In pleading guilty, Lisi admitted that his organization sold hundreds of pills in one week.

Deputy Attorneys General Debra A. Conrad and Cynthia M. Vazquez of the Medicaid Fraud Control Unit represented the state at the sentencings.

– TOM HESTER SR., NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM