Four women appeared in federal court today to face charges of running an oxycodone distribution conspiracy in Flemington and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.
According to authorities, Alicia Balaban, 35, of Wellington, Florida, Michele Call, 63, of Flemington, Nelida Rios, 55, of Flemington, and Marie DeJulia, 42, of Lodi, are each charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone.
Authorities arrested Balaban this morning in Wellington and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge James J. Hopkins in West Palm Beach federal court. Call, DeJulia, and Rios were taken into custody this morning in New Jersey and appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court. All four defendants were released on bail.
According to the complaint: Balaban, who is Calls’s daughter and DeJulia’s friend, is the alleged leader of the drug trafficking conspiracy. From April 2016 through January 2018, Balaban, Call, and Rios allegedly worked together to secure prescriptions for oxycodone, fill them at pharmacies in Flemington, and then distribute the pills to DeJulia from Call and Rios’s Flemington residences.
The conspirators allegedly distributed thousands of 30 mg oxycodone pills.
The drug distribution conspiracy charge carries a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison, a maximum potential penalty of life in prison, and a $10 million fine.