By Tom Momberg
A Connecticut couple has been charged in federal court for allegedly distributing more than 500,000 oxycodone pills over the last three years out of their Ridgewood and Brooklyn pharmacies, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Marcin Jakacki, 35, and his pharmacist wife Lilian Jakacki, 49, along with their alleged accomplice Robert Cybulski, 30, of MW&W Global Enterprises Inc., allegedly sold those pills with a street value between $10 million and $15 million to non-prescription holders, according to a report filed by the U.S. attorney.
The trio was arrested Wednesday as a result of collaborative civil and criminal investigations seeking millions of dollars in damages for violating the Controlled Substances Act and the False Claims Act.
“As alleged, they flooded the city with over half a million illegally diverted oxycodone pills based on obviously fake prescriptions or no prescription at all, helping fuel the growing crisis of prescription pill abuse,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. “Whether it is the corrupt doctor writing unwarranted prescriptions, the greedy pharmacist selling pills based on fake or no prescriptions, or the street-level drug dealer peddling painkillers directly to the addicted, we must confront this escalating epidemic at every level.”
In Ridgewood, the couple operated Chopin Chemists, 66-19 Fresh Pond Road.
The husband and wife pair are facing charges of conspiracy to distribute narcotics and with money laundering of the proceeds from their alleged illegal operation, according to the U.S. Attorney.
Cybulski is facing a charge of conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute illegal narcotics and faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
Marcin Jakacki faces up to 20 years in prison for each one of his alleged charges, the U.S. Attorney said. Lilian Jakacki is also charged with conspiracy to misbrand prescription drugs, for allegedly defrauding Medicare out of more than $750,000, and for purchasing prescription medications from the black market and reselling them from her pharmacies, according to the U.S. Attorney.
