Ex-NY Firefighters Indicted in Pair of Drug Rings
By Heather Yakin
Source The Times Herald-Record, Middletown, N.Y.
GOSHEN—A grand jury has handed up three indictments, separate but interrelated, against a former City of Middletown Fire Department lieutenant, a former Mechanicstown firefighter and 17 others in what officials say was a pair of drug rings, one that sold cocaine and the other that sold pills made from fentanyl.
The indictments are the product of Operation Bread, White and Blues, which prosecutors said came from the groups referring to the money as bread, the cocaine as white and the blue-colored pills as blueberries as they sold the drugs in Orange County and elsewhere. Police arrested the groups on Feb. 5. A handful of lower-level defendants took early guilty pleas. Friday's indictments mark the start of county court proceedings in the trafficking cases.
One indictment charges former Middletown fire lieutenant Paul Smith, 48, of Port Jervis, with operating as a major trafficker, as well as multiple drug sale and possession counts.
Mechanicstown volunteer firefighter Robert Dunham, 46, of Middletown, faces counts including first- and second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and multiple felony drug possession counts.
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Both men also face two counts each of second- and fourth-degree conspiracy, felonies, with one count each related to the cocaine and fentanyl pills.
A second indictment charges Garry Michel, 48, of Middletown, with operating as a major trafficker, second- and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and other drug charges in the pill case. Michel and eight other defendants face second- and fourth-degree conspiracy charges. The indictment charges that Michel was the main supplier of the pills, which were made to look like oxycodone pills, but actually contained fentanyl. Each defendant on that indictment is charged with acting together and with Smith and Dunham to distribute drugs.
The third indictment charges that Marquis Gamble, 34, of Nyack with operating as a major trafficker and with supplying cocaine to the conspiracy. While Smith is not charged on the third indictment, it says that Smith's roles as to distribute cocaine to the other conspirators "so that it could be sold by members of self-professed outlaw motorcycle clubs."
The Gamble indictment charges seven others with second- and fourth-degree conspiracy. Joel Gamble, 44, of Cuddebackville, also faces drug charges, including attempted first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance. Kenneth Nunez, 44, of Spring Valley also faces drug charges including first-degree criminal sale of possession of a controlled substance.
Former police officer John Beltempo faces drug charges and a felony count of criminal possession of a firearm. No information about the gun is included in the indictment.
Smith and Dunham, while charged separately, are mentioned as part of each of the two conspiracies outlined in the companion indictments. All three indictments outline a series of acts undertaken by the suspects, including intercepted phone calls and handoffs of items, descriptions that suggest the actions were captured by surveillance and wiretaps.
Prosecutors say that Smith, who was the fire department training officer and often the highest-ranking person on duty, held meetings of fellow bikers involved in the drug activity at Middletown's central firehouse. The City of Middletown is undertaking numerous measures to improve security and prevent any future issues at the firehouse.
Most of the defendants will be arraigned on Monday and Tuesday in Orange County Court in front of Judge Craig Brown. For logistical reasons unrelated to the case, Michel was arraigned Friday afternoon. His lawyer, Andrew Greher, entered a not-guilty plea for him.
Prosecutors Kerry Kolek and Neal Eriksen asked Brown to set bail at $1 million cash or $3 million bond, citing the potential 25 years to life Michel faces if convicted of the top count, and his two previous felony convictions, including a 2009 federal drug conspiracy for which he served a sentence of six and a half years.
Brown set bail as prosecutors requested. Michel returns to court April 24. Michel remains in Orange County Jail, as do most of the other defendants.
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