Franklin County Drug Sweep

MALONE — Nine people were arrested in a drug sweep Tuesday, three were still being sought, and two others were taken into custody on outstanding warrants.

One person had been arrested Friday.

Franklin County District Attorney Derek Champagne blames revised Rockefeller drug laws on the rising incidents of prescription-drug peddling in the region.

And he’s seeking a new state law that would ban synthetic drugs to combat he calls an epidemic of “bath salt” abuse in the North Country.

MEDICAID ABUSE

Officials say 95 percent of the prescription drugs involved in this latest drug sweep were obtained through the Medicaid program administered by the Franklin County Department of Social Services.

The defendants would “doctor shop” to find a sympathetic physician, some from as far away as Vermont, who would write them a prescription, officials say.

DEALER CONVICTED

The DA noted a coincidental timing of a guilty verdict in a drug dealer’s trial that could send Joshua Wolz, 29, of Owls Head to state prison for up to 12 years as a second-felony offender.

After a five-day trial, he was convicted of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance from an incident on Aug. 2, 2010.

The street value for a single 80-milligram pill he sold to a confidential informant — caught on video in the Kmart parking lot in Malone — was $80, said Assistant District Attorney Elizabeth Crawford, who prosecuted the case.

She said Wolz had sold drugs to this same person at least 75 times before, including heroin and cocaine.

EARLY ARRESTS

Law-enforcement officials armed with search warrants made the busts about 6 a.m. Tuesday in Malone, Massena and Constable. They collected a shotgun and two rifles while making the arrests.

The people charged included Lori A. Muller, 23, of Constable, who is six-months pregnant has a year-old son and whose home gutted by fire Sunday night.

She is accused of selling and possessing cocaine, according to police officials.

State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Lt. Brent Davison said troopers and officers assigned to the Franklin County Border Narcotics Task Force made the arrests without incident.

GUNS CONFISCATED

One defendant, Michael Hayes, 23, of Malone, who reportedly had the guns in his home, told a confidential informant assisting police that if his door were ever kicked in by law-enforcement officers, he would have “a surprise for them,” said Malone Village Police Department Chief Chris Premo.

The black, long-barreled rifle with a lighted scope sat ominously on a table along with two shotguns, weapons that Hayes reportedly posed with on his Facebook page to impress friends, Premo said.

“Lax drug laws in New York state” are fueling the increase in prescription-drug incidents, he said, and those caught have “no regard for getting arrested anymore.”

MAKE MORE HERE

He said city dealers come to Malone on weekends to sell drugs for a much higher profit at lower risk.

An ounce of crack cocaine in New York City might sell for $500 to $600, but the dealers break the ounce down into grams and sell that same ounce up here for $2,500.

Champagne said dealers are expanding their businesses into rural areas, knowing they will likely get referred to a treatment program or probation term instead of jail or state prison under the revised state laws.

He said these kinds of cases don’t normally go to trial in other parts of the state, but Tuesday’s sweep demonstrates that Franklin County will continue to pursue and try offenders.

He said that if Wolz had not been a second-felony offender, he might be facing a probation term, “but we had a hammer over him” because of his previous conviction.

“Things have drastically changed, and the drug laws were essentially thrown out the window,” Champagne said.

SYNTHETIC DRUGS

At the same time, chemists are making prosecutor’s jobs more difficult by slightly changing the chemical makeup of synthetic drugs on the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s banned-substance list so they can be sold as what looks like harmless bath salts and spices.

But Champagne said these types of products are dangerous to the people taking them — many of whom are children — and that parents have to be aware of the risks to their kids before someone dies.

That is the thrust behind his contact with Sen. Betty Little (R-Queensbury) and Assemblywoman Janet Duprey (R-Peru). He wants them to support legislation during the new session of the State Legislature, in January, that would ban synthetic marijuana and other such substances in New York, as 20 other states have done.

He said that in the first four months of 2011, 2,700 overdoses from synthetic drugs occurred in the United States, and nine incidents were fatal.

“I expect the number to increase substantially,” the DA said, noting that head shops in Malone, Akwesasne, Massena, Plattsburgh and Watertown continue to sell these products despite the reported dangers.

“Walk into these places and see what they have,” Champagne said, adding that the owners claim the items are aromatherapy supplies and regular bath salts.

He said he wants parents to know what’s going on with these kinds of abuses now “because we can’t wait until January for people to start addressing this.”

Email Denise A. Raymo at: Here are the names and charges from this week’s roundup.

Six were arraigned in Town of Malone Court:

— Lori L. Muller, 23, of Constable: Two counts each of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (cocaine) and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine).

— Daniel J. Manley, 23, of Malone: Fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (suboxone) and fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (suboxone).

— Edward C. LaMay, 53, of Malone: Third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (oxymorphone) and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (oxymorphone).

— Anna Fiacco, 25, of Malone: Two counts third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (heroin), two counts third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (heroin) and hindering prosecution by allegedly harboring an alleged parole violator.

— Heather LaFlesh, 25, of Malone: Third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (heroin).

—Nicole Thomas, 23, of Constable: Fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (hydrocodone).

Muller is being held in County Jail without bail, and Manley, Fiacco and LaFlesh were each being held in lieu of $5,000 cash bail or $10,000 insurance bond.

LaMay was being held in County Jail on $7,500 cash bail, but there was no disposition available for Thomas.

Jailed to await arraignment in County Court were:

— Jesse Blackman, 32, of Massena, for criminal sale of a controlled substance in or near school grounds, a Class B felony. He alleged to have made the transaction across from Flanders Elementary School as children were being released for the day.

— Michael Hayes, 23, of Malone, for two counts of fourth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (suboxone) and two counts of fifth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (suboxone).

— Tony J. Cook, 27, of Malone, for third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (cocaine), third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine) and fifth-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (clonazepam).

Arrested on Friday was:

— Keaton B. Fortier, 23, of Tupper Lake, was arrested on Friday in connection to the case and charged with two counts each of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (cocaine) and third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine).

He is being held in County Jail in lieu of $10,000 cash bail or $20,000 insurance bond.

Arrested on outstanding warrants during the sweep were:

— Thomas P. Nesbitt, 32, of Malone, for allegedly violating the terms of his parole. He was sent to jail without bail.

— Kurt Terrance, 21, of Akwesasne, for failure to appear in St. Lawrence County Court for a charge of first-degree criminal possession of marijuana.

The three people still being sought on warrants are:

— Daniel A. Zeller, 42, of Malone, who is believed to be in California.

— Anthony Cook, 30, of Akwesasne, who is believed to be in Canada.

— Abram Gray Jr., 44, of Akwesasne, who is believed to be in Canada.