D.A. Tom Spota: Multi-state trafficking ring put millions of dollars worth of marijuana onto Suffolk’s streets

Twelve people, including a Calverton man accused by prosecutors of being the principal reseller in a coast-to-coast marijuana ring, have been charged under a 13-count indictment unsealed this morning in Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. The ring, led by Brian Poole of Bellport, 27, trafficked 960 pounds of high-grade marijuana with a wholesale value of $2.2 million, across Suffolk County since May 2014.

Suffolk District Attorney Thomas Spota detailed the elaborate operation in a press conference held after the arraignments this morning of Poole and several other defendants before Judge Stephen Braslow.

The scheme to run a “boutique” marijuana operation, emphasizing quality over quantity, was hatched in an upstate prison where Poole met Steven Marfe, of Astoria, Spota said. Poole was doing time for a 2007 first-degree robbery conviction and Marfe, of Astoria, was imprisoned on a 2008 assault conviction. Both were released in 2011.

A 13-month investigation by Suffolk narcotics detectives, Homeland Security officers and investigators from the Suffolk district attorney’s office, found Poole and Marfe would order marijuana from Maigan Rodriguez, 25, of Redding, California, Spota said. She would buy the specific types of marijuana ordered by the New York dealers from growers in rural areas across northern California and ship it to designated addresses on Long Island via the U.S. Postal Service, according to prosecutors.

“The defendants went to great, great lengths to disguise what was being shipped,” Spota said. “I want to emphasize that the U.S. Postal Service is in no way to blame.” The marijuana would be packed in one-pound quantities in heat-sealed bags, he said. The bags would then be soaked in Lysol or bleach before being put into a shipping box with dryer sheets to further camouflage the scent of the aromatic plant leaves, Spota said.

The pungent aroma of marijuana filled the air in the fifth floor law library at the criminal courthouse where numerous bags of marijuana were arranged on long tables — along with stacks of cash totaling more than $200,000, a handgun and bullets, jewelry and other items seized from the defendants’ homes and vehicles. Among the items on display was a child’s backpack which was used to transport marijuana and cash — it contained $219,000 in cash when it was seized from Poole’s home, Spota said — and a hollowed-out book used by Gomez to store cash; the book held $13,000 when investigators seized it. Also on display were Gomez’s vanity license plates for his BMW that bear the letters “LIFTD” — street slang for getting high — next to the anti-drug message “Keep Kids Drug Free,” the picture selected by the defendant, Spota said.

Poole hired a number of people to receive the shipments, Spota said. Nothing was ever delivered to either of his own homes — one in Bellport and one in Bay Shore, he said. He paid people $300 per shipment to receive the boxes, and gave them explicit instructions for handling them — which included leaving them on their doorsteps for at least 30 minutes to make sure police did not arrive and then writing “Return to Sender” on the box, on the theory that, if caught, the recipient could say he or she had no idea where the box came from and was about to bring it to the post office, as evidenced by the “Return to Sender” marking on the box. Spota displayed one such box with “Return to Sender” scrawled across the front in bold black lettering.

Once it was deemed “safe” the recipient handed the shipment off to Poole, who repackaged the marijuana and distributed it to several dealers, including the principal reseller, Eric Gomez, 29, of Calverton, Jose Blanco, 24, of Bay Shore, and Marco Barilla, 49, of Hampton Bays, Spota said. Barilla ran a high-end catering business in the Hamptons and sold marijuana to customers across the South Fork, Spota said.

Poole and Marfe paid $1,200 per pound for the marijuana and sold it for $2,300 to $2,800 per pound, depending on the type, after repackaging it in smaller quantities, according to prosecutors. They cleared $500 to $800 per pound in profit from sales of 11 different strains of California marijuana, including: “Girl Scout Cookies,” “Chem Dawg,” “OG Kush,” “Death Star,” “Jedi,” “Grand Daddy Purples,” “Hash Train,” “Jack the Ripper,” “Cheese” and “Green Crack.”

Poole also employed various female couriers to fly cash payments to Rodriguez in California.

“These arrests dismantle a multi-state drug trafficking organization whose final destination was the streets of Suffolk County,” said Raymond Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of the Office of Homeland Security-New York.

All 12 defendants were charged with conspiracy. Poole was additionally charged with criminal possession of marijuana in the first degree, criminal possession of marijuana in the second degree and criminal possession of a weapon, first- and second-degree. Since he is still under parole supervision in connection with his 2007 robbery conviction, Poole was held in lieu of bail, Spota said.

Gomez, who lives at 334 Starr Boulevard in Calverton, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree; criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fourth degree; criminal possession of marihuana in the second degree; conspiracy in the fourth degree, a class E felony; tampering with physical evidence; and criminal possession of a controlled substance in the seventh degree.

“The tampering charge stems from Mr. Gomez attempting to flush marijuana down his toilet when he saw detectives approaching his residence,” DA Spota said.

At his arraignment Wednesday afternoon, Gomez pleaded not guilty; bail was set at $5,000 cash.

Editor’s note: A criminal charge is an accusation. By law, a person charged with a crime is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.