DEBARY -- With the accused mastermind of a massive pill-pushing criminal enterprise behind bars on $1 million bond, Volusia County Sheriff's investigators started dismantling the rest of the organization on Friday. By mid-morning, a total of 15 more suspects had been rounded up.
It was all part of a large-scale investigation -- dubbed Operation Oxy-Clean -- targeting a DeBary-based network that bought pharmaceutical
drugs with phony prescriptions and then sold the pills on the street for a whopping profit. On one DeBary street alone, Angeles Road, deputies nabbed nine suspects Friday morning with ties to the organization. The investigation is ongoing and more arrests are expected.
Headed by reputed ringleader John Davey of DeBary, the organization's drug of choice was Oxycodone. Records show that in less then three months, the group fraudulently obtained 14,000 tablets of the highly-potent narcotic from the Pierson Community Pharmacy.
"Members of Davey's organization always paid in cash -- a total of $17,550 between July 8-Sept. 23," Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "The investigation revealed that Davey would supply the phony prescriptions and the money to pay for the drugs. The drugs would then be turned over to Davey, who would pay his accomplices with pills, money or both.
Witnesses said that Davey would sell the pills for $10 each, Davidson said, adding, at that price, the fraudulent pills tracked to the Pierson
pharmacy would have fetched $140,000.
However, not all of the pills made it to the streets. Witnesses told investigators that after the pills were obtained, Davey would sometimes crush 10 of them, mix the powder with water and inject himself.
Sheriff's investigators launched the investigation nearly two months ago, after receiving an anonymous tip that Davey was obtaining
prescription drugs illegally. After secretly following Davey and two accomplices on Sept. 25 as they drove to the Pierson pharmacy to fill a
phony prescription, investigators arrested the 41-year-old Davey on charges of trafficking in illegal drugs and obtaining a controlled
substance by fraud.
Four days later, Davey posted $30,000 bond and was released from the Volusia County Branch Jail in Daytona Beach. However,
as deputies continued to investigate, they discovered the massive scope of Davey's operations, Davidson said.
In total, investigators believe Davey had more than 30 people obtaining prescriptions for him. Based on the information, Sheriff's investigators re-arrested Davey on Oct. 2 after obtaining a warrant charging him with operating a continuing criminal enterprise. Florida statutes define the offense as the commission of three or more felonies by someone acting in the capacity of an organizer
or supervisor and in concert with five or more people. Davey is being held at the Branch Jail on $1 million bond. Investigators recovered
blank prescription forms during a search of Davey's bedroom following his Oct. 2 arrest.
This week, Sheriff's investigators obtained arrest warrants for 20 of Davey's accused accomplices. They began a massive round-up at 8 a.m.
Friday morning, locating 15 of the defendants. Most of the defendants were arrested in DeBary, although some were also picked up in Deltona and Daytona Beach.
Volusia County Sheriff Ben Johnson had high praise for the deputies who worked the investigation.
"A lot of excellent police work went into putting this case together," Johnson said. "Prescription drug abuse is a growing problem with deadly consequences. Today's arrests and the others to follow are a demonstration of the Sheriff's Office's commitment to attacking the problem at all levels."
All of the defendants are being held on $150,000 bond on two charges each: obtaining or attempting to obtain a controlled substance by fraud and either trafficking in Oxycodone or trafficking in Hydrocodone. A list of the 15 defendants arrested Friday morning is as follows:
* Roy V. Armstrong, 51, Daytona Beach.
* Shanoh Armstrong, 32, DeBary.
* Kimberly Ann Bialobos, 23, DeBary.
* Carla Wood Collins, 36, DeBary.
* Shannon N. Cox, 33, Deltona.
* Salvatore D. Desantis III, 41, DeBary.
* Ronald Deviney, 42, Deltona.
* Cynthia R. Graves, 44, DeBary.
* Michael A. Graves, 45, DeBary.
* David Heaps, 50, DeBary.
* Ronald Heaps, 45, DeBary.
* Michael C. Jimenez, 26, Deltona.
* Steven Larimer, 53, DeBary.
* Christina Martin, 19, Deltona.
* Christopher G. Piercy, 39, DeBary.