Man gets 7 years for role in Paterson opioid mill linked to 14 suspected fatal overdoses
A state judge has sentenced a Pennsylvania man to seven years in prison for his role in running a Paterson heroin mill whose product has been reportedly linked to more than a dozen fatal overdoses in New Jersey, the state Attorney General's Office said Monday.
Angel Ramirez, 36, of Hazleton, Pennsylvania, pleaded guilty late last month to maintaining or operating a controlled dangerous substance facility, according to a statement from acting Attorney General Matthew Platkin.
On Friday, state Superior Court Judge Marilyn C. Clark sent Ramirez to prison, making him the fourth person headed behind bars in connection with a Ninth Avenue mill that authorities say distributed large amounts of fentanyl and heroin.
The operators sent their product out in wax folds stamped with specific brand names, Platkin said. Police have traced these brands to 22 suspected overdoses that killed 14 people throughout the Garden State.
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The attorney general heralded the sentence as an example of how to hold drug traffickers accountable for the harm they cause New Jersey communities.
“By dismantling this drug mill and putting its operators behind bars, we have cut off a major source of illegal fentanyl and heroin from reaching the streets of Paterson,” Platkin said.
Ramirez's attorney, Ron Bar-Nadav of Hackensack, did not respond to a request for comment.
Four other people have pleaded guilty to helping run the operation, which the New Jersey State Police took down in March 2020: Anthony Rosario, 38, of Paterson, who in July was sentenced to 10 years in prison; Luis Peguero-Ortiz, 35, of the Bronx, who in July was sentenced to seven years; Marlo Costa-Santiseben, 27, of Paterson, who was sentenced on Aug. 24 to three years; and Ricky Rodriguez, 37 of Paterson, who pleaded guilty in June but fled before the court could sentence him.
Rodriguez remains on the run, Platkin said.
When authorities raided the mill after a two-month investigation, they allegedly found 497 bricks of heroin and fentanyl, 600 grams of unpackaged heroin and fentanyl, and packing paraphernalia, the attorney general said.
They also seized cutting agents, several cellphones, sifters, grinders and 11 different stamps used to brand packaged narcotics with a certain image, word or phrase, the statement said.
This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: Paterson NJ: Man gets jail in deadly opioid mill operation
