Former Fire Lieutenant In Area Admits To Being A Major Drug Trafficker

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced Monday, April 8, that Paul Smith, 48, of Deerpark, who had been a paid lieutenant with the City of Middletown Fire Department at the time of his arrest on Feb. 5, pleaded guilty to operating as a major trafficker and conspiracy.

Smith was part of a large group that involved two separate conspiracies, one of which primarily involves members of “outlaw” motorcycle clubs trafficking cocaine, and another of which involves the sale of narcotic pills which were represented to contain oxycodone, but which contained fentanyl, a highly addictive and frequently lethal narcotic, the DA's office said.

The name of the enforcement action that brought down the drug empire, "Operation Bread, White and Blues," referred to the co-conspirators use of the term “bread” to mean money they obtained through the sale of narcotics, “white” to represent the cocaine which was sold, and “blues” to represent the blue colored pills which were being trafficked. 

Under a plea agreement, Smith will receive a sentence of eight and one-third to 25 years in state prison. The maximum sentence for operating as a major trafficker is 25 years to life in prison.

Smith also agreed to forfeit $315,000 that he made from selling cocaine, as well as a 2014 Dodge Ram pick-up truck, a 2008 corvette automobile, and a 2012 Harley Davidson motorcycle that he used to transport narcotics. 

He is scheduled to be sentenced to appear in court on July 10.

During the raids and arrests in February that snared Smith, law enforcement officials recovered more than $200,000, 25 handguns, one assault rifle, multiple rifles, 10 vehicles, two motorcycles, over 2.5 pounds of cocaine and 1300 Fentanyl pills.

“As a firefighter and first responder, Paul Smith knows better than most the dangers involved in ingesting the narcotics that he, and those he admitted were his co-conspirators, were selling,” Hoovler said. “It is unconscionable that someone who is paid to help others would be peddling these substances."

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