Oxycodone trafficking operation shut down in Staten Island

August 16, 2012 Office of N.Y. State Attorney Gen. Eric T. Schneiderman

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Shutting down a major drug operation, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman yesterday announced five arrests, including Michael A. Mancusi, who allegedly obtained and sold thousands of pills of prescription narcotics illegally, including oxycodone.

Mancusi supplied his drug-dealing operation by fraudulently claiming serious and permanent injuries related to motor vehicle accidents, and then applying for Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicaid and Medicare benefits to unlawfully obtain prescription drugs, according to the Attorney General’s Office.

Together with his girlfriend, co-defendant Shannon Daniell, and other co-conspirators, the Mancusi Organization then illegally sold the drugs to buyers throughout New York City and Long Island, according to Schneiderman.

“We have shut down a dangerous scheme that dealt illegal prescription drugs at the taxpayers’ expense. The arrest of this major drug trafficker and his associates will make our streets safer, and sends a message to would-be criminals to think twice before dealing drugs in New York state,” said Schneiderman.

According to the complaint, after alleged motor vehicle accidents on Jan. 6, 2007 and Jan. 9, 2007, Mancusi made claims for automobile insurance no-fault benefits from American International Group, Inc. and then initiated a lawsuit against the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, fraudulently claiming serious injury and protracted pain.

Mancusi also used no-fault benefits stemming from those alleged accidents to engage in “doctor-shopping” to find medical providers who would prescribe him oxycodone and other controlled substances, the complaint alleges.

Thereafter, defendant Mancusi obtained various prescriptions for controlled substances, including alprazolam, fentanyl and oxycodone, funded by auto insurance no-fault benefits as well as Mancusi’s Medicaid and Medicare benefits, according to Schneiderman.