Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PAUL VAN MANEN was sentenced today to 23 years in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin and fentanyl that resulted in the death of Michael Ogno, a 26-year-old man from Staten Island, New York, and the serious bodily injury of another individual.  A unanimous jury convicted VAN MANEN in May 2019 after an eight-day trial before United States District Judge Paul A. Crotty. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “Paul Van Manen peddled the fentanyl-laced heroin that caused the death of Michael Ogno.  He made that sale fully aware that the same formulation had caused a nonfatal overdose just two months prior.  The lengthy sentence should send a message to those who sell lethal drugs like fentanyl.”

According to court documents and the evidence at trial:

From at least in or about 2013 up to and including in or about January 2018, VAN MANEN sold heroin, including heroin laced with fentanyl, to customers on Staten Island and in New Jersey.  On October 4, 2017, VAN MANEN drove a co-conspirator (“CC-1”) to Brooklyn, New York, where they both obtained heroin from the conspiracy’s primary supplier, Medin Kosic.  The next morning, CC-1 overdosed after using some of the narcotics, which were subsequently found to be laced with fentanyl.  Despite knowing about this overdose, VAN MANEN continued to sell heroin – including heroin laced with fentanyl – to members of the Staten Island community.  On December 1, 2017, VAN MANEN sold heroin to Michael Ogno, a 26-year-old resident of Staten Island.  Ogno used the heroin, which again was laced with fentanyl, and died from an overdose.  VAN MANEN continued to sell heroin after Ogno’s death. 

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In addition to the prison sentence, PAUL VAN MANEN, 51, of Staten Island and South Amboy, New Jersey, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman praised the outstanding work of the New York Drug Enforcement Administration Strike Force, the New York City Police Department, and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Ghosh, Ryan Finkel, Jessica Fender, and Stephanie Lake are in charge of the prosecution.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that PAUL VAN MANEN was found guilty yesterday of conspiring to distribute heroin and fentanyl that resulted in the death of Michael Ogno, a 26-year-old man from Staten Island, New York and the serious bodily injury of another individual.  A unanimous jury convicted VAN MANEN after an eight-day trial before United States District Judge Paul A. Crotty.  Kenneth Charlton, who was tried with VAN MANEN, was acquitted of the charge against him. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As proven at trial, Paul Van Manen peddled poison to the community of Staten Island and its vicinity, causing one of his many victims to die from a tragic overdose, despite knowing of a non-fatal overdose just two months earlier from the group’s drugs.  Today’s verdict should send a message to those who flood our community’s streets with lethal drugs.  We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute and convict criminals seeking to profit from the current public health crisis afflicting our city.”

According to court documents and the evidence at trial:

From at least in or about 2013 up to and including in or about January 2018, VAN MANEN sold heroin, including heroin laced with fentanyl, to customers in Staten Island and New Jersey.  On October 4, 2017, VAN MANEN drove a co-conspirator (“CC-1”) to Brooklyn, New York, where they both obtained heroin from the conspiracy’s primary supplier, MEDIN KOSIC.  The next morning, CC-1 overdosed after using some of the narcotics, which were subsequently found to be laced with fentanyl.  Despite knowing about this overdose, VAN MANEN continued to sell heroin – including heroin laced with fentanyl – to members of the Staten Island community.  On December 1, 2017, VAN MANEN sold heroin to Michael Ogno, a 26-year-old resident of Staten Island.  Ogno used the heroin, which again was laced with fentanyl, and died from an overdose.  VAN MANEN continued to sell heroin after Ogno’s death. 

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PAUL VAN MANEN, 51, of Staten Island and South Amboy, New Jersey, faces a maximum sentence of life in prison, and a mandatory minimum term of 20 years in prison.  The maximum potential sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.  A sentencing date for VAN MANEN before Judge Crotty has not yet been set. 

In addition to VAN MANEN, ten other defendants have been convicted in connection with the conspiracy.  MEDIN KOSIC was sentenced to 168 months in prison.  MIRSAD BOGDANOVIC was sentenced to 160 months in prison.  MICHAEL NUNEZ was sentenced to 150 months in prison.  ALEXANDER BUCCI was sentenced to 50 months in prison.  The remaining defendants have yet to be sentenced. 

U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman praised the outstanding work of the New York Drug Enforcement Administration Strike Force, the New York City Police Department, and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office. 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Ghosh, Ryan Finkel, Jessica Fender, and Stephanie Lake are in charge of the prosecution.

Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Michael E. McMahon, the District Attorney for Richmond County, James J. Hunt, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Angel M. Melendez, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), George P. Beach II, the Superintendent of the New York State Police (“NYSP”), and James P. O’Neill, the Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), announced today the unsealing of an Indictment charging MEDIN KOSIC, a/k/a “Dino,” JASMIN CEJOVIC, a/k/a “Min,” PAUL VAN MANEN, MIRSAD BOGDANOVIC, a/k/a “Mike,” SHAUN SULLIVAN, THEODORE BANASKY, a/k/a “Freddy,” a/k/a “Eduardo,” ANTHONY FRANCESE, ALEXANDER BUCCI, JOSEPH CUCCINIELLO, a/k/a “Cuch,” KENNETH CHARLTON, and JENNIFER BOGDANOVIC with conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl.  Eight defendants were arrested on these charges this morning.  VAN MANEN and SULLIVAN, who were in custody on state charges, were transferred to federal custody today.  The defendants are expected to be arraigned before United States Magistrate Henry Pitman in Manhattan federal court later today. 

 

Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said:  “As alleged, these defendants created a network spanning New York City and into New Jersey for the distribution of highly addictive and dangerous drugs.  Even after they realized the potency of the drugs they were distributing and selling – and the overdose risk those drugs posed – the defendants allegedly continued to sell their poison and to fuel the opioid epidemic plaguing our nation.  Today’s arrests are part of our continued commitment, along with our law enforcement partners, to stop the flow of heroin and fentanyl into and out of New York.”   

District Attorney Michael E. McMahon said:  “With the drug epidemic intensifying in Staten Island and other hard-hit parts of the City, these defendants continued to flood our streets with heroin and fentanyl, peddling poison that led to several overdoses.  Our mission to investigate every overdose through the Overdose Response Initiative has helped law enforcement hold drug dealers accountable for the lives they have destroyed, and today’s indictments are a direct result of these ongoing efforts.  The prosecutors in my office’s Narcotics-Investigations Bureau will continue working together with the NYPD and our federal partners to ensure that we attack the drug epidemic on all fronts.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge James J. Hunt said:  “Every day, heroin users put their lives in the hands of mad scientists.  This organization’s trial and error chemistry resulted in unregulated potency and unnecessary overdoses.  The Strike Force and our partners pooled resources in order to dismantle this organization and shut down a major opioid source of supply in Brooklyn, Staten Island and New Jersey.”

HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Angel M. Melendez said:  “Those charged today are alleged to have packaged highly addictive drugs in Brooklyn and Staten Island, and sell them on our city streets.  Our agency is committed to working with our law enforcement partners to seek out and arrest those criminals who choose to bring heroin and fentanyl into our neighborhoods.”

NYSP Superintendent George P. Beach II said:  “Once again through partnership and good police work between our law enforcement partners, we were able to dismantle a dangerous heroin/fentanyl drug trafficking operation. For years, these individuals distributed large amounts of these toxic substances throughout the New York City and New Jersey area, never once concerned about the deadly effects of these drugs on these communities. These arrests should send a strong message that we will continue to do all we can to prevent these drugs from making it to our neighborhoods. I commend our members and our law enforcement partners for their hard work in uncovering this operation and the arrests.”

Police Commissioner O’Neill said:  “The eleven defendants in this case are accused of operating a heroin and fentanyl distribution ring in Staten Island and other parts of our City.  As alleged, they continued to peddle the deadly product even after one of the defendants overdosed himself.  When I spoke recently about the reduction in overdoses on Staten Island in the year 2017, I spoke about the NYPD’s continued commitment to fighting the opioid epidemic.  The charges in this case come as a result of the kind of precision policing that’s one part of the cure.” 

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed today in Manhattan federal court[1]:

The defendants were members of a drug trafficking organization (the “DTO”) that operated in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey.  The DTO obtained heroin and fentanyl from a supplier, which was then stored and packaged in Staten Island or Brooklyn, and resold in Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey, among other places.  Certain defendants also arranged to sell narcotics while in Manhattan. 

Between 2015 and January 2018, the DTO was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin, including heroin laced with fentanyl, in New York City and other locations.  During the course of the conspiracy, DTO members became aware of the risk posed by the drugs that they sold.  In October 2017, defendant SHAUN SULLIVAN overdosed from heroin supplied by the DTO, but was revived with naloxone.  Members of the DTO knew of SULLIVAN’s overdose and the potency of the narcotics they were distributing.  Even after SULLIVAN overdosed, the DTO continued to distribute heroin and fentanyl to customers in New York City. 

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A chart setting forth the names, ages, residences, and maximum penalties for the defendants, each charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, is set forth below.  The maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencings of the defendants will be determined by the judge.

 

The arrest was the result of a long-term investigation by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Strike Force, which comprises agents and officers of the DEA, the New York City Police Department, Immigration and Customs Enforcement – Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the New York State Police, the U. S. Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Marshals Service, New York National Guard, the Clarkstown Police Department, U.S. Coast Guard, Port Washington Police Department and New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision.  The Strike Force is partially funded by the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA), which is a federally funded crime fighting initiative and part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force program.  Mr. Berman thanked the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office, the Overdose Response Initiative, and the NYPD Overdose Task Force.  Mr. Berman noted that the investigation is ongoing.

 

This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.  Assistant United States Attorneys Catherine Geddes and Stephanie Lake are in charge of the prosecution.

 

The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.      

 

 United States v. Medin Kosic et al.

 



DEFENDANT





AGE





RESIDENCE





MAXIMUM PENALTY





MEDIN KOSIC





30





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





JASMIN CEJOVIC





25





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





PAUL VAN MANEN





50





South Amboy, NJ





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





MIRSAD BOGDANOVIC





41





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





SHAUN SULLIVAN





36





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





THEODORE BANASKY





44





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





ANTHONY FRANCESE





48





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





ALEXANDER BUCCI





22





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





JOSEPH CUCCINIELLO





23





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





KENNETH CHARLTON





46





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison





JENNIFER BOGDANOVIC





33





Staten Island





Life in prison with a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison



 

 

 

 



[1] As the introductory phrase signifies, the entirety of the text of the Indictment, and the description of the Indictment set forth herein, constitute only allegations, and every fact described should be treated as an allegation.