Sheriff's Office scores big drug bust

PHOTO COURTESY VOLUSIA COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE
'Mastermind' — Volusia County Sheriff's Office investigators arrested John Davey, 41, of DeBary, calling him the ringleader of a prescription-drug ring. Davey is being held at the Volusia County Branch Jail on $1 million bond.

By Pat Hatfield
BEACON STAFF WRITER

posted Oct 30, 2009 - 4:31:32pm

The drug was Oxycodone, and investigators from the Volusia County Sheriff's Office had already arrested John Davey, 41, of DeBary dubbing him the "mastermind of a massive pill-pushing criminal enterprise." Then, Volusia County Sheriff's investigators arrested 15 more suspects in "Operation Oxy-Clean" Friday, Oct. 30.

Angeles Road in DeBary was the center of operations and where nine of the arrests were made. Other suspects were from Deltona and Daytona Beach.

The investigation began nearly two months ago, after an anonymous tip came in that Davey was obtaining prescriptions illegally. After an investigation, detectives arrested Davey in September for trafficking in illegal drugs and obtaining a controlled substance by fraud. He posted $30,000 bond and was released.

As detectives continued the investigation, "they discovered the massive scope of Davey's operations," Sheriff's Office spokesman Gary Davidson explained in an Oct. 30 news release.

Investigators found that in total, Davey had more than 30 people obtaining prescription drugs for him, Davidson stated.

The Sheriff's Office found the group fraudulently obtained 14,000 tablets of the highly potent narcotic Oxycodone from the Pierson Community Pharmacy. Members of Davey’s organization always paid in cash — a total of $17,550 between July 8 and Sept. 23.

Investigators said Davey would supply the phony prescriptions and the money to pay for the drugs. The drugs would then be turned over to Davey, who would pay his accomplices with pills, money or both.

Witnesses said that Davey would sell the pills for $10 each. At that price, the fraudulent pills tracked to the Pierson pharmacy would have fetched $140,000. However, not all of the pills made it to the streets. Witnesses told investigators that after the pills were obtained, Davey would sometimes crush 10 of them, mix the powder with water and inject himself.

On Oct. 2, sheriff’s investigators arrested Davey a second time and charged him with operating a continuing criminal enterprise, which is the commission of three or more felonies by someone acting in the capacity of an organizer or supervisor and in concert with five or more people.

Davey is being held at the Volusia Branch Jail on $1 million bond.

Investigators recovered blank prescription forms during a search of Davey’s bedroom following his Oct. 2 arrest.

Sheriff's Office spokesman Brandon Haught said there is no indication that anyone at the pharmacy was involved in the scheme.

Arrested on Oct. 30 were:

• Roy V. Armstrong, 51, Daytona Beach

• Shanoh Armstrong, 32, DeBary

• Kimberly Ann Bialobos, 23, DeBary

• Carla Wood Collins, 36, DeBary

• Shannon N. Cox, 33, Deltona

• Salvatore D. Desantis III, 41, DeBary

• Ronald Deviney, 42, Deltona

• Cynthia R. Graves, 44, DeBary

• Michael A. Graves, 45, DeBary

• David Heaps, 50, DeBary

• Ronald Heaps, 45, DeBary

• Michael C. Jimenez, 26, Deltona

• Steven Larimer, 53, DeBary

• Christina Martin, 19, Deltona

• Christopher G. Piercy, 39, DeBary.

All of these defendants were being held on $150,000 bond on two charges each: obtaining or attempting to obtain a controlled substance.

On Oct. 14, the Sheriff's Office, working in concert with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration, broke up a large marijuana and cocaine ring, seizing cocaine valued at $420,000, along with marijuana, guns and cash, from 11 homes in West Volusia and Crescent City in Putnam County. A total of 19 people were arrested.

— pat@beacononlinenewscom

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