60°
Billy "Jason" Ortega, 35, of West Milford was the dispatcher who sent Kaylen Rainey, 30, of Manhattan to three different city addresses on March 17, 2021 after promoting "new batches" of drugs, an FBI complaint on file in the Southern District Court of Manhattan alleges.
Three customers -- Amanda Scher, Julia Ghahramani and Ross Mtangi -- all died after ingesting the coke, authorities said.
Scher texted Ortega that the new product "def is better" before she died, the federal complaint alleges.
He allegedly responded: “Hey, try not to do too much because it’s really powerful. "
Three subsequent FaceTime calls to Scher weren't answered, says the complaint, which was unsealed Tuesday, Feb. 1 in federal court in lower Manhattan.
The complaint says that Ghahramani asked: "Can they come upstairs pls Instead of me going to car."
To which Ortega allegedly replied, “Hey yeah he’s going up 10min.”
“Awesome,” she responded -- and was never heard from again.
Two calls that night and five the next morning to Ghahramani went unanswered, according to the complaint.
The messages exchanged with and calls made to both victims were traced to an iCloud account of Ortega's, it says. Surveillance cameras captured images of Rainey at the three separate locations, authorities added.
A third member of the courier service, William Drayton, 30, of Hackensack had delivered drugs to Ghahramani and others in the past -- but not the fatal doses, according to the complaint.
Drayton, Ortega and Rainey are all charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine and possession of the drugs for sale. Ortega and Rainey are also charged with causing the three deaths.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams praised the "outstanding investigative work" of the NYPD, the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) New York Strike Force and the New York/New Jersey High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).
The principal mission of the OCDETF program, Williams said, is to “identify, disrupt and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking, weapons trafficking and money laundering organizations, and those primarily responsible for the nation’s illegal drug supply.”
The Strike Force is housed at the DEA’s New York Division and includes agents and officers of the DEA, ATF, Secret Service, IRS, U.S. Marshals Service, federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations, Customs and Border Protection, Coast Guard, U.S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, NYPD, New York State Police, New York National Guard, New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and Clarkstown and Port Washington police departments.
Williams also thanked West Milford police for their "invaluable assistance."
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Micah Fergenson and Michael Herman of Williams's Narcotics Unit are handling the prosecution.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Saddle Brook-Elmwood Park and receive free news updates.
