newjerseynewsroom.com

BY ALICIA CRUZ

NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM

A noxious odor and a 911 call from a concerned neighbor led to the arrests of two New Jersey men and a New York man, all whom pleaded guilty to a conspiracy to sell more than $2 million worth of prescription drugs used to treat the HIV virus.

Joe Batista, of New York, was the last of the three men to plead guilty Friday before U.S. District Judge Susan D. Wigenton in Newark federal court to one count of conspiring to engage in the unlicensed wholesale distribution of pharmaceuticals, said U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman.

Police arrested Batista, 24, on March 4, 2010, along with Edison Rosario, of Fairview and

Rudy Manuel Gonzalez, of Cliffside Park in a basement apartment Rosario leased in Fairview. A police officer, responding to a 911 call from a neighbor, knocked on the door of 442 Edgewater Avenue investigating a complaint of a pestilent odor emanating from the apartment.

Upon entering the apartment, the officer found Batista, Gonzalez and Rosario using lighter fluid – the source of the odor – to remove labels from the bottles, and observed thousands of bottles of prescription medication in the residence. Every window in the unit either was camouflaged with plastic bags or taped window shades to prevent any view from the outside, said Fishman.

A thorough inspection of the sparsely furnished apartment uncovered bags and suitcases filled with prescription medication throughout the apartment. A closet held bags of medication from floor-to-ceiling consisting of a variety of medications used to treat HIV such as, Atripla, Combivir, Isentress, Kaletra, Prezista, Reyataz, and Truvada. The total value of the medications found was worth more than $2 million, the press release stated.

In court Friday, Batista admitted he intended to distribute the prescriptions in interstate commerce once the labels were removed and the bottles cleaned. None of the defendants had a license to distribute wholesale quantities of pharmaceuticals, as required by federal law.

The charge to which Batista pleaded to carries a penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. He was released on $100,000 bail pending sentencing, scheduled for September 8, 2011, NorthJersey reported.

Gonzalez and Rosario pleaded guilty February 15, 2011, and March 7, 2011, respectively, and face five years in prison plus a $250,000 fine, according to NorthJersey.com. Both were remanded to custody pending sentencing, which is scheduled for May 23 for Gonzalez, and June 13, for Rosario.

Fishman credited special agents of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, and Special Agent in Charge Mark Dragonetti, of the New York Field Office; the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, New Jersey Office of Inspector General region and Special Agent in Charge Tom O’Donnell; and officers with the Cliffside Park and Fairview Police Departments, with their assistance in the investigation.