Through a November 2012 text message to an associate, John Romagnolo unwittingly introduced himself to law enforcement.
"Dam right i call the shots," the text message to Robert Carhart read. "im the script king."
Two major drug rings responsible for flooding Northeast Pennsylvania with $2.1 million worth of Oxycodone have been broken up by the state Attorney General's Bureau of Narcotics Investigation, federal officials and local police, Attorney General Kathleen Kane said Thursday.
The operation also spread to New Jersey and New York as well. New York authorities have dismantled the New York City arm of the operation.
Known in Pennsylvania as "Operation Script King," the investigation began in April 2012 and revealed two drug-trafficking operations in Monroe County - one led by Romagnolo, 44, 764 Red Rock Road, Cresco, and another headed by Bryn Stevenson, 29, 134 Pocono Circle, Tannersville, Kane said.
In Pennsylvania, 43 people were arrested and charged, The Associated Press reported. At the head of a $10 million distribution network that fed the Monroe County rings and others was Hector Castro, M.D., founder, medical director and practitioner of internal medicine at the Itzamna Medical Center, 205 East 16th St., New York.
He was arrested Tuesday and charged with 39 counts, including criminal sale of a prescription for a controlled substance, to which he pleaded not guilty in Manhattan's state Supreme Court, according to the AP.
The investigation revealed that Romagnolo and Stevenson would contact Castro's office to obtain Oxycodone prescriptions, the attorney general's office said.
The office manager, Patricia Valera-Rodriguez, 28, of 1011 Sheridan Ave. Apt. B6, the Bronx, would write the prescriptions out for $500 each by using the names and personal information of Romagnolo and Stevenson, their families and associates multiple times a week from February 2011 until recently.
From March 2011 until December 2012, police believe that Romagnolo paid Valera-Rodriguez more than $30,000 for the fraudulent prescriptions.
Romagnolo traveled to New York City to meet her at least three times a week while Stevenson preferred to have her husband, Hector Rodriguez, meet him in Stroudsburg, police said.
Valera-Rodriguez had more connections. Investigators believe she was responsible for at least 713 prescriptions in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania between August 2009 and March 2013, bringing her home a minimum of $356,000.
In Pennsylvania, "fillers" would take the prescriptions to pharmacies and fill them, being paid with either cash or pills. From there, the drugs were distributed throughout Northeast Pennsylvania.
Both kingpins and Valera-Rodriguez made efforts to keep track of when and where each prescription was filled to avoid arousing suspicion. However, the demand was so intense that many area pharmacies were either running out of the drug or refusing to fill the prescriptions.
Things were unraveling when a court ordered a wiretap investigation in November 2012. Over the following months, investigators logged line after line of Romagnolo and Stevenson texting Valera-Rodriguez names and dates of birth for her to create prescriptions.
Romagnolo faces a total of 61 charges, including possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and insurance fraud. Stevenson faces a total of 43 charges, including corrupt organizations and possession with the intent to deliver a controlled substance.
Romagnolo was sent to Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $300,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is slated for April 4. Stevenson was sent to Monroe County Correctional Facility in lieu of $150,000 bail. His preliminary hearing is slated for Tuesday.