MAHONING VALLEY Drug suspects have diverse backgrounds

The government is seeking forfeiture of homes, cash and vehicles.
By PATRICIA MEADE
VINDICATOR CRIME REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Upscale suburbanites and inner city residents of modest means were among those who shared a common craving for heroin and cocaine.
That's how a 61-page 268-count superseding federal indictment released Tuesday describes the market for heroin and cocaine that traveled from New York to the Youngstown area for distribution. The indictment names 73 defendants, 57 of whom are from Youngstown and surrounding communities; the rest live in New York.
The charges range from conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin or cocaine to money laundering and firearms violations. The penalty is a minimum of 10 years in prison up to life.
Gun-purchase allegation
The firearms violations include an allegation that false statements were made to buy a .45-caliber pistol from Rogers Flea Market in Columbiana County in April 2003.
Drugs and firearms were stored in vehicles and houses, the government said.
Wiretaps were used to intercept conversations between the buyers and sellers. Seven cellular phones and two pagers were tapped, with three of the cell phone lines originating in New York.
The conspiracy began as early as 1996 in New York, with large amounts of heroin and cocaine making their way to sellers in Ohio, the government said. The charges run through May of this year.
Snippets of wiretapped conversations, which began in December 2003 and ended in May, show that the talk was usually in code, sometimes laced with racial slurs and profanity. One hundred pesos, for example, meant 100 grams of heroin and "29" meant $29,000.
The case is being prosecuted by David P. Folmar Jr., an assistant U.S. attorney in Cleveland. He declined to comment.
The indictments
Youngstown defense attorney Gary L. VanBrocklin said the original indictment in May went after the "heavy hitters," and the superseding indictment mostly targets the alleged users, some of whom are college students.
VanBrocklin was in Youngstown federal court late Tuesday afternoon with his client, Garret McCullough of Boardman. Magistrate Judge George J. Limbert released McCullough on an unsecured bond.
Some of the defendants, such as McCullough, turned themselves in. The government is expected to seek pretrial detention for those who pose a flight risk.
The roundup of local defendants by members of the Mahoning Valley Law Enforcement Task Force began Tuesday morning.
"It make take weeks to arrest them all," said Bob Magnuson, head of the MVLETF. "We have three teams out."
The indictment seeks forfeiture of property, including houses, cash and vehicles.
Raid
During a raid Tuesday at 1203 N. Garland Ave., two vehicles and nearly $63,000 in cash were seized. The resident was not charged but is expected to be indicted, Magnuson said.
At the North Garland house, Youngstown Detective Sgt. Mike Lambert pointed to steel mesh covering a rear window and explained that drug buyers would park next door and come through a gate to the window, which has a small opening in the mesh. They would plunk down their cash, usually $20 per hit, he said.
Magnuson said a lot of the heroin and cocaine brought to Youngstown went to suburbanites who could afford the pricey habit. Local defendants live in Youngstown, Boardman, Campbell, Brookfield, Girard, Struthers, Poland, Austintown, Lowellville, Leetonia, Hubbard, Niles, and Sharon and Sharpsville, Pa.
One defendant, David J. Gennaro Jr., lives in an eight-room 3,312-square-foot house on Silver Fox Drive in Boardman, with a market value of $250,500, according to Mahoning County records.
The Knollwood Avenue home of another defendant, Antonio G. Angelilli, has a market value of nearly $162,000. Lora A. Mymo's address shows that she lives on Four Mile Run Road in Austintown, in a house with a market value of $150,000.
Frank S. Campana lives on Main Street in Poland. The two-story house, valued at $92,200, was built in 1880, according to county records.
By contrast, John N. Groh III lives on Reed Avenue in Campbell, in a house valued at $7,500 by county records. Karen J. Lavassaur's residence on Weston Avenue in Youngstown is valued at $50,000.
Drugs cross all socio-economic lines, Magnuson said.
Made news before
Another defendant, 37-year-old Daniel L. Strimbu of Stewart-Sharon Road, made news in July when shots were heard inside his Brookfield home and police surrounded it for roughly six hours. Strimbu was arrested on a domestic violence charge after staggering out of a wooded area near his home, according to Vindicator files.
Lambert said Strimbu is in a rehabilitation facility. A handful of others charged in the drug trafficking, such as Juan Laviena and Jemison Laviena, both of Youngstown, have been in jail, after being named in the original indictment filed in May.
The two-year narcotics trafficking investigation was a combined effort of the New York and Cleveland FBI, which has an office in Boardman, MVLETF and the bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
meade@vindy.com