Schumer Demands Fair Share Of $16M For Region's Police Task Force

NEW CITY, NY — U.S. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer visited the Rockland County Sheriff’s Office Wednesday as he called on the U.S. Department of Justice to promptly pay their fair share of over $16 million owed to local police departments for contributions to the Westchester DEA task force, which works in partnership with the feds.

He spoke at a news conference in New City, surrounded by representatives of several Hudson Valley police departments.

Schumer said that departments including the Rockland County Sheriff's Office, the Westchester County Police Department, the Orangetown Police Department, the Woodbury Police Department, the Yonkers Police Department, the New Windsor Police Department, and the Putnam County Sheriff's Office, have poured resources and manpower into the task force.

For example, he singled out the landmark case against the Rochester Drug Cooperative.

In April 2019, the RDC and its executives were indicted by federal prosecutors under the Controlled Substances Act for their involvement in the illegal sale of opioids. The RDC operated in the fringes of the drug business as a supplier of last resort for independent pharmacies whose dubious practices got them cut off by other distributors, according to the Associated Press. Former CEO Laurence Doud III ordered subordinates to ignore red flags about certain customers to maximize company revenues and his own pay, which more than doubled between 2012 and 2016 as the company's oxycodone sales increased by 800 percent and its fentanyl sales jumped by 2,000 percent, the AP reported.

RDC agreed to pay a $20 million fine in 2019 to avoid prosecution, declared bankruptcy and closed. Doud was sentenced to 27 months in prison in March.

The Rockland County Sheriff's Office and the other police departments played a pivotal role as part of the Drug Enforcement Administration's task force, Schumer said.

Despite DOJ receiving a substantial sum of $16 million as part of the case, the local police departments involved have yet to receive their rightful share, Schumer said.

They deserve an equitable share of seized assets for their time and effort, said Rockland County Sheriff Lou Falco.

"It's unacceptable we've waited for up to four years, and enough is enough," Falco said. "I stand with Senator Schumer in demanding immediate action to retrieve our share of the $16 million owed by the feds to multiple HV departments, including in Rockland, Orange, Putnam, and Westchester. The bureaucratic delays must be cut through, and our local agencies should receive the share of funds they've earned."

Schumer demanded that the DOJ expedite the payment process.

"This unacceptable delay has caused undue financial strain on these departments, hindering their ability to continue their crucial work effectively," he said.