Burglaries, lavish lifestyle and ‘purple drank’: 10 sentenced in racketeering scheme
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At first, investigators thought they’d found the man at the top of the chain in a racketeering scheme that burglarized nearly 60 pharmacies in Broward and Miami-Dade County from 2015 to 2016.
Instead, they learned in the course of their investigation dubbed “Operation Purple Haze” that he, Darrish Martin, was a middle man in the scheme, and the man at the top was Miami music producer Harrison Garcia.
Now, Garcia, Martin and eight other South Florida residents who committed the burglaries ultimately to sell the stolen drugs to Garcia, who then resold them, have each pled guilty and been sentenced for their role as of this week.
The Florida Department of Law Enforcement announced Friday the pleas and sentences of Alonzo Tillman Hinson, 31, of Miami Gardens; Bryan Anthony Pitter II, 33, of Miramar; Chantelle Ponce, 29, of Homestead; Raul Ponce Jr., 26, of Homestead; JonLuis Labadie, 27, of Miami; Joanky Labadie, 25, of Miami; Nereida Milagros Ortiz Almonte, 56, of Hialeah Gardens; and Ashley Alexandra Laguna, 25, of Hialeah Gardens, in addition to those of Martin, 31, of Pembroke Pines; and Garcia, 33, of Hialeah.
Nearly 60 burglaries
The nearly 60 burglaries at national pharmacy chains in Broward and Miami-Dade County between 2015 and 2016 were similar: Always multiple suspects, disguised in hooded jackets carrying backpacks, who pried open the business’s doors with a yellow crowbar and got away with the same loot of “a substantial amount” of hydrocodone, oxycodone and promethazine with codeine cough syrup, according to Martin’s probable cause affidavit.
The cough syrup mixed with alcohol or sodas like Sprite and hard candy, like Skittles or Jolly Ranchers, is often known by the street nickname “lean” or “purple drank,” for its color, among other street names, and the use of the mixture has been promulgated by rappers.
The burglaries were often committed within days of each other and on at least one occasion, two break-ins were on the same day, in less than an hour, the affidavit showed. Pharmacies throughout Miami-Dade County were targeted, along with several in Hollywood, Pembroke Pines, Miramar, Cooper City, Margate, Plantation, Davie and Hallandale Beach in Broward County.
CCTV footage from a burglary of a Pembroke Pines Walgreens in April 2016 showed three men pry the door open and run to the pharmacy, break the glass on that door and pry open a case with the drugs inside. Nearly $3,000 worth of promethazine with codeine and oxycodone were taken, the affidavit said.
But the cough syrup bottles had trackers in them, according to the affidavit, that gave law enforcement officers a location in the Miami Gardens area. Officers went to the area and saw suspects running away, but none were arrested that day.
Several law enforcement agencies were investigating, though, and by the time the suspects burglarized another Walgreens in May 2016, this time in Homestead, they’d already had a warrant to track Martin’s cellphone location, according to the affidavit. The phone was in the immediate area of the pharmacy as it was being burglarized shortly after 4 a.m.
Arrests would come days later.
The arrests
Shortly after midnight on May 10, 2016, detectives were watching Martin and co-defendants Pitter and Hinson at a Walmart in Pembroke Pines where they bought a screwdriver, Martin’s affidavit said. The next pharmacy burglary happened hours later at a Walgreens in Miami Gardens, where thousands of pills were taken.
Detectives followed the Cadillac Escalade they were riding in through trackers on the drugs after the burglary, and Pitter and Hinson were arrested. Martin temporarily escaped arrest, having switched from the Cadillac to another car and was somewhere in Miramar before his phone turned off and could no longer be tracked, the affidavit said. He was arrested later that day in Miami-Dade County.
But even after Martin’s arrest, the burglaries were continuing by other suspects on the outside, court records said.
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Investigators listened to his jail calls with Chantelle Ponce, finding she was continuing to sell drugs on his behalf, Garcia’s probable cause affidavit said. Chantelle Ponce rented the Escalade that was used the morning of the May burglary and had also bought guns for Martin, who was unable to buy them as a convicted felon, according to her probable cause affidavit.
Chantelle Ponce, who is the mother of Martin’s child, and her younger brother Raul Ponce Jr. were arrested in the fall of 2016. Laguna was arrested in 2017, and Ortiz Almonte, Joanky Labadie and JonLuis Labadie were arrested in 2018.
Investigators learned that Garcia would pay Martin $7,000 for each burglary, from which Martin would pay his co-conspirators for their participation, Garcia’s affidavit said. Garcia would also often ask Martin to commit pharmacy burglaries when he was low on promethazine to sell.
Sentences
Garcia was arrested by federal agents in 2016.
One of Garcia’s co-conspirators told detectives Garcia was a music producer who had been seen with famous rappers. Federal court records show he lived a lavish lifestyle off the proceeds from his sales, owning luxury cars, designer clothes and numerous guns.
“The Defendant brazenly trafficked various narcotics in the south Florida community from 2013 until his arrest in this case, and he did so while armed with 3 loaded handguns, armor-piercing ammunition, an AK47, and an UZI submachine gun,” federal prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum in 2017.
Garcia’s Instagram account “muhammad_a_lean” was monitored by law enforcement during their investigation of the drug sales, and his direct messages discussed selling promethazine with codeine, marijuana and other drugs, according to his federal criminal complaint. Undercover agents set up buys with Garcia that were recorded.
When he was arrested, he was wearing $1,500 sneakers, prosecutor Rilwan Adeduntan said in his closing statement at Garcia’s federal trial in 2017, according to a court transcript. “Please don’t take my shoes,” Garcia said during his arrest, according to the transcript. “Please don’t take my shoes.” In the two controlled buys by undercover officers, Garcia made nearly $5,000 in a matter of minutes, Adeduntan said at trial.
Garcia was sentenced to 13-and-a-half years in state prison concurrent with a 30-year federal prison sentence, FDLE said. Garcia entered the state prison system Tuesday and is currently in the male South Florida Reception Center, FDOC inmate records show. His state prison sentence is scheduled to end in October 2029.
Martin was sentenced to 16 years in state prison and was transferred to the reception center on Sept. 19, FDOC inmate records show. His current release date is May 2032, followed by five years of probation. Both Garcia and Martin were sentenced this August.
Among the other sentences:
Hinson was sentenced to seven years in state prison and five years of probation. He was released this May.
Pitter was sentenced to 365 days, which has since been served.
Chantelle Ponce was sentenced to 20 months in prison, which has since been served. She was released in February.
Raul Ponce Jr. was sentenced to five years of probation, to end in August 2028.
JonLuis Labadie was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation. He was released in June 2022.
Joanky Labadie was sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation. He was released in June 2022.
Ortiz Almonte was sentenced to time served and three years of probation.
Laguna was sentenced to time served and three years of probation, to end in September 2026.
