20°
Colina addressed the charge during a busy day in which four defendants in the ring entered guilty pleas in connection with the case in Superior Court in Hackensack — one of whom said he supplied Colina with lists of buyers.
The key player, Emerson podiatrist Carnig C. Shakarjian, last month accepted a deal from prosecutors under which he’ll go to prison for no more than five years in exchange for pleading guilty to a single count of conspiring to sell high-dose Oxycodone. SEE: Emerson podiatrist faces 5 years in Oxy prescription scheme
Shakarjian could also be fined $250,000, lose his medical license and be barred from seeking re-instatement for five years, or until his criminal sentence is complete — whichever is longer.
The 10 defendants in court today were among more than a dozen named in the original 16-county grand jury indictment against Shakarjian, 50, of Park Ridge, who remains free on $50,000 bail pending sentencing.
- CLIFFVIEW PILOT HAD IT FIRST: Undercover detectives have charged an Emerson podiatrist with writing high-dose Oxycodone prescriptions by the dozen for people in and around town in exchange for a fee from a local bodybuilder and another man who acted as black-market brokers. READ MORE ….
Charles Reigert of Dumont and Daniel Kessel of Hillsdale and Kenneth DeFlora Jr. and Joseph Mazzo of Emerson all avoided prison time by pleading guilty today to a single count each of conspiracy to either possess or distribute the prescription painkiller two years ago.
Presiding Superior Court Judge Liliana DeAvila-Silebi set sentencing for April 26.
Co-defendants Veronica Navarro-Buitrago of Emerson and James Powers Jr. of New Milford, entered the Pretrial Intervention Program last month.
Those who didn’t resolve their cases today have until March 25 to accept or reject plea offers.
DeFlora told the judge under questioning from his attorney, Darren Gelber, that he was not a patient of Shakarjian’s and “never saw the man in his life.”
However, he admitted that he bought drugs for himself and other and gave lists of names to Colina.
Neither he nor any of the others had any medical need for Oxy, DeFlora said.
Another co-defendant, Gavin Solimando, received a new status conference date in two weeks in order to give him time to collect medical records.
Bergen County Prosecutor John L. Molinelli said Shakarjian “was prescribing a large volume of Oxycodone” from his Ankle and Foot Health Care Institute on Kinderkamack Road. READ MORE….
PHOTOS (Mary K. Miraglia): Top left: Daniel Kessel / Top right: Kenneth DeFlora / Top bottom: Carnig Shakarjian (FILE PHOTO)
Click here to follow Daily Voice Hackensack and receive free news updates.
