Staten Island Prescription Drug Ring Bust Nets 5
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- New York authorities say they've shut down a prescription drug ring that made more than $80,000 in illegal sales.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman announced Wednesday that five people have been arrested on Staten Island in connection to the scheme.
Alleged members of the drug ring include Michael Mancusi, Shannon Daniell, Nancy Rivera-Daniell, Ryan Luechau and Alixandra Bujka.
Prosecutors said Mancusi went doctor shopping after two separate purported car accidents and received multiple drug prescriptions.
Prosecutors said Mancusi obtained nearly 6,000 oxycodone pills and nearly 1,200 alprazolam, or Xanax, pills. He, along with his girlfriend, Daniell, and other co-conspirators "unlawfully distributed these prescriptions for profit," according to Schneiderman's office.
It said the pills and other medications sold for about $84,000 between August 2011 and July 2012.
The defendants face charges including criminal possession of a controlled substance and operating as a major trafficker.
It wasn't immediately clear whether they had lawyers. The sister of the man accused of obtaining the prescriptions said the family didn't want to comment.
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