Warren Man Charged as Dealer in Narcotics Network

Warren resident Thomas Lamera, 58, was named as a member of a Paterson-based narcotics network allegedly responsible for illegally distributing more than 1,000 pills per week of the highly addictive opiate painkiller oxycodone, according to acting Attorney General John J. Hoffman.

Hoffman announced the arrests Thursday of 19 members of the alleged network, headed by eight alleged dealers, including Lamera.

The operation is said to be operated by alleged ringleader Aurelio Gutierrez, 59, of Paterson, who was taken into custody on July 11, along with Daniel Blanco, 47, of the Bronx, N.Y., Hoffman said. 

He said Gutierrez distributed more than 1,000 oxycodone pills per week in northern New Jersey. So-called "runners” obtained the oxycodone pills and other prescription narcotics, such as the anti-anxiety medication Xanax, by a variety of means, including buying pills from low-income residents of Paterson who had legitimate prescriptions, obtaining fraudulent prescriptions which they filled at pharmacies, and using their own prescriptions for personal medical conditions.

Hoffman said Gutierrez allegedly paid the runners enough for them to make a profit, reselling the pills at a substantial markup to other dealers.  

Lamera and the 19 defendants were charged with second-degree conspiracy to distribute CDS, and were lodged in the Passaic County Jail with cash bails set ranging from $50,000 to $150,000.

Bail for Gutierrez was set at $275,000 cash, with requirements of a bail source hearing and surrender of passport if bail is posted.  

The charge of leader of a narcotics trafficking network carries a sentence of life in prison, with 25 years of parole ineligibility, and a criminal fine of up to $750,000.  Second-degree charges carry a sentence of five to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000.