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Five of them were arrested this morning at a VA medical center in Lyons facility, another at a similar facility in East Orange facility and the seventh at home, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman said.
Federal court appearances are scheduled for this afternoon in Newark.
Those arrested and charged include 55-year-old Robin Merritt of Hackensack, who the government said sold heroin, cocaine and hydromorphone.
Records show Merritt already is facing local charges in four Bergen County towns involving shoplifting, speeding, trespassing and driving without a license.
He and the others “abused their access to VA medical facilities to peddle dangerous drugs to other veterans undergoing treatment,” Fishman said. “It is tragic that those who have served their country would exploit their fellow veterans.”
The FBI and the VA’s Office of the Inspector General nabbed the defendants as part of an investigation into a fatal heroin overdose at the Lyons facility, said the agency’s Jeffrey G. Hughes.
According to Fishman, the VA medical centers provide “a wide range of medical and rehabilitation treatment services to veterans, including drug abuse and additional rehabilitation services, along with vocational training and other social services.”
Prosecuting the case for the government is Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Eskew of Fishman’s General Crimes Unit in Newark.
PHOTO: Courtesy PHOENIX HOUSE
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