Federal prosecutors in Tampa charged a Plant City couple last week with manufacturing methamphetamine in a home they shared with their three children. Hillsborough deputies were called to the home in regard to a domestic dispute on February 15.

There they allegedly discovered Matthew and Beth Cantin as well as chemicals used to make meth and hardware to cook it in a “one pot” system. The alleged meth manufacturing set-up was located in the garage.

Three children — ages 6 months to 9 years — live at the home with the Cantins. Law enforcement claims that the children were present when the Cantins cooked meth, which can result in toxic fumes and explosions.

Both parents now face the federal charge of conspiring to manufacture methamphetamine on premises where children were present or resided. The maximum penalty is 40 years in prison.

Hernando County Sheriff’s deputies arrested ten people in Brooksville earlier this week on marijuana charges. More than 270 marijuana plants were discovered in two houses by the deputies on Wednesday. The defendants, all of Brooksville, were charged with a variety of drug and tampering charges including cultivation of marijuana.

Detectives had reportedly been watching the houses and picked up some of suspects after seeing them visit the homes for an extended period of time, according to deputies. Because the plants were located throughout both homes, authorities concluded all of the suspects were aware they were grow houses, according to an arrest report.

Four houses were actually raided and searched; only two had been allegedly converted to grow houses.

At those two homes, detectives found marijuana as well as extra sets of power lines used to divert electricity needed to operate A/C units, several grow lights, fans, and other items used to grow marijuana, according to arrest reports.

Janusz Suzdorf of Dunedin was arrested this month on a federal complaint charging him with conspiring to traffic in Oxycodone. Suzdorf is the latest in a string of arrests related to the Neurology & Pain Center clinics located in Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville and St. Petersburg. Previously, the clinics’ co-owners Troy Wubbena and Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander along with two other employees were indicted on similar charges.

According to the complaint, Suzdorf conspired with Wubbena, who is a physician’s assistant, to illegally distribute Oxycodone through the use of blank prescription forms pre-signed by Wubbena’s supervising physician, Dr. Friedlander. Law enforcement says that the blank forms were then filled out by Wubbena and others employed at the clinics in the names of purported patients for Oxycodone. These prescriptions for Oxycodone were then filled at various pharmacies throughout the Tampa Bay area and illegally distributed by Wubbena, Suzdorf, and others.

Wubbena, Friedlander and the other employees were initially charged back in March 2009. Wubbena was indicted on additional charges earlier this month. There is no indication as to why this latest round of charges were not filed last spring as well. The two clinic employees initially charged pleaded guilty last month to conspiracy to distribute drugs and have agreed to cooperate with the government – this may well be the explanation for additional charges so late in the process.

If convicted, Suzdorf faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison.

See Also:

• Doctor from Tampa & St. Pete Clinics Indicted on Drug Charges
• Tampa Pain Clinic Owner Indicted Again on Drug Charges

A federal judge this week found Rogelio Zarco Perez of Dade City guilty of gun charges relating to a large-scale raid last August. Perez previously pleaded guilty to drug charges.

Law enforcement seized fifty-two kilograms of cocaine and $2.2 million in cash from 12019 Duck Lake Canal Road, Dade City, on August 26th, 2009, the largest drug seizure in the history of Pasco County. Perez’s three co-defendants pleaded guilty to drug charges for their roles last month.

The investigation leading to Perez’s indictment began in 2007 and revealed large cocaine importation, storage, and distribution scheme. The Dade City address was used as drug and cash storage. Several Ocala addresses were used as distribution points.

Law enforcement pulled a truck over after it left the Duck Lake Canal address and discovered over $2 million in a fuel tank. A search warrant was then executed at the residence. Drugs and cash were found. Perez and another co-conspirator were arrested.

The case was investigated by a taskforce comprised of agents and detectives from the Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Highway Patrol.

Sentencing is scheduled for April. Perez faces up to life in prison on the drug charges.

See Also:

Pasco Detectives Seize $1.5 Million in Cocaine

Troy Wubbena, physician assistant and co-owner of the Neurology & Pain Center clinics located in Tampa, Lakeland, Orlando, Jacksonville, and St. Petersburg, has been indicted again on a charge of conspiracy to traffic in oxycodone. Wubbena, of Tampa, was already facing charges of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, morphine, hydrocodone and Aprazolam (commonly known as Xanax) without a valid medical purpose and outside the course of professional practice and defrauding Medicare out of more than $200,000.

Wubbena and clinic co-owner Dr. Jeffrey Friedlander, along with two clinic employees, were initially charged back in March. The two clinic employees have pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and have agreed to cooperate with the government. (more…)

Troopers discovered Caryn Schonscheck slumped over in her parked car over the weekend in a parking lot off U.S. 19. The motor was still running and troopers reported that Schonscheck was lethargic and incoherent.

A trooper discovered five prescription medication bottles in Schonscheck’s purse, one of which had her husband’s name on it. She apparently had valid prescriptions for all of the drugs, except 52 tablets of hydrocodone and six Valium pills. She advised law enforcement that she had multiple back surgeries, necessitating the prescriptions.

The trooper’s report lists Schonscheck’s occupation as an investigator with the State’s Attorney’s Office. Someone in the Pasco-Pinellas judicial circuit, thought, denied that she has ever worked there.

Schonscheck was charged with driving under the influence, trafficking hydrocodone and possession of a controlled substance without prescription for Valium pills. (more…)

Tampa’s U.S. Attorney unsealed an indictment earlier this month which charges a Colombian national, Javier Fernando Saavedra-Escobar, with conspiracy to transport cocaine by sea, knowing and intending that the cocaine would be unlawfully imported into the United States. There are a total of four counts in the indictment and, if convicted, Saavedra-Escobar faces a mandatory minimum term of ten years in federal prison and up to life imprisonment.

Saavedra-Escobar was recently arrested in Madrid, Spain by the Spanish National Fugitive Squad. He was in possession of cocaine at the time of his arrest, according to law enforcement. Several kilograms of cocaine were later found in his residence in Madrid. He is being held in Spain, pending extradition. (more…)

Richard Thomas of Lakeland, FL pleaded guilty this week to a federal charge of possession of steroids with intent to distribute. Thomas claims he sold steroids to professional athletes including members of the Washington Capitols hockey team and the Washington Nationals baseball team.

Thomas faces up to five years in prison for the charge.

Prosecutors say that Thomas had hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of anabolic steroids in his home last spring when law enforcement set up a sting. Federal agents intercepted a suspicious package in Philadelphia in May. The package was from Slovakia and addressed to “Mahlon” Thomas in Lakeland.

Agents placed a beacon on the package to alert them if it was opened. The alert was triggered within five minutes of delivery to Thomas’ home. Thomas was the only person at the home. Detectives searched the home and found large quantities of steroids, firearms, packaging labels, blister packs full of Valium, a digital scale and books about steroids among other things.

Thomas ultimately told investigators that he bought steroids from China, Russia, Iran and other Middle Eastern countries and that he was the biggest steroid provider in Central Florida. Thomas claims to have sold the drugs primarily to professional athletes.

Jeffrey Allen Ware of Weeki Wachee was arrested by Hernando County sheriff’s deputies earlier this week and charged in Citrus County with eight counts of trafficking in controlled substances and eight other drug-related charges, including attempting to acquire possession of a controlled substance by fraud. Law enforcement alleges that Ware ran an illegal prescription drug ring across Central Florida.

They claim that Ware created phony prescriptions for narcotics on a computer, using names of real doctors without their knowledge. Ware then had seven people take the prescriptions to various pharmacies to be filled. Those people would be paid and Ware allegedly sold the pills, which were usually Oxycodone.

Ware was taken to the county jail with bail set at nearly $4.3 million. Six others were also arrested. (more…)

The National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers issued a report this week which analyzes the national use of drug courts.The group says that low-level drug offenders deserve treatment in the public health sector without being penalized by the criminal justice system.

The first drug court was started in Miami-Dade County in 1989 as a response to the rocketing numbers of drug-related crimes. More than 2,100 such courts exist today across the country, including the local Tampa Bay counties.

The criminal defense lawyers’ report concludes that failing in a drug court program often means defendants face tougher sentences than if they not sought help at all. The group believes that defendants shouldn’t have to plead guilty to receive treatment.

The local paper quoted Jim Downum, Hillsborough County’s drug court coordinator, on the report. Downum believes that the Hillsborough County drug court works well.

“You have people with substance abuse issues. That may be a public health issue, but they’ve broken the law to get here. The legal system has to run its course as well,” said Downum.

There are drug court programs in Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco, Manatee and Sarasota counties. In drug court programs, a judge typically monitors offenders for 12 to 24 months as they receive intensive treatment and other services. They are held accountable by the judge, must complete treatment, take regular, random drug tests and appear frequently in court for progress reviews.

See Also:

• Florida Drug Courts Celebrate 20 Year Anniversary