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A judge released Anthony Cyntje, 22, of Passaic, without bail on drug possession and conspiracy charges. Authorities said he works at a correctional facility in Trenton.
The judge also ordered another Passaic man, Dawshawn Jones, 33, held on $2.5 million cash bail.
Even higher bails were ordered for two Long Island men: Brian Sullivan, 24, of Lake Grove, at $7.5 million, and James Sosa, 25, of Wading River, at $5 million.
Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy Sini said detectives and other law enforcement officers seized:
- 12 kilos of cocaine;
- 2 kilos of heroin;
- $1.5 million in cash:
- 4,000 or oxycodone pills;
- nine guns;
- several luxury vehicles.
Sini said the amount of drugs seized was a weekly haul brought from the West Coast to Suffolk County via air and land -- including mail carrier service -- and then sold on Long Island and in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
It had a combined street value of more than $2.1 million, the district attorney said.
“The magnitude of this drug distribution ring is enormous,” Sini said.
“Not only did this organization continue their illicit operation during the coronavirus pandemic,” he said. “They also exploited the limited availability of certain narcotics during the health crisis to generate even greater profits off their sales.”
Sullivan, Sosa and Sosa’s father, Anthony Leonardi, 46, of Coram, LI, flew either on commercial planes or drive across the U.S. to collect the drugs every two weeks are so, Sini said. The rest came through the mail, he said.
Leonardi was released on bail with conditions.
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