Group committed more than 50 burglaries in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach
Seven years after a Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) investigation was initiated, all 10 suspects of a racketeering scheme have pleaded guilty and been sentenced.
Following a string of burglaries in 2015 and 2016, FDLE, the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO), DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and police departments from Miami-Dade County, City of Miami, Davie, Miami Gardens, Hialeah, Homestead, Pembroke Pines, and Miramar, joined forces to investigate a racketeering scheme involving ten people in “Operation Purple Haze”.
Their investigation revealed that Darrish Martin, 33, Alonzo Tillman Hinson, 31, Bryan Anthony Pitter, II, 33, Chantelle Ponce, 29, Raul Ponce Jr., 26, Harrison Garcia, 33, JonLuis Labadie, 27, Joanky Labadie, 25, Nereida Milagros Ortiz Almonte, 56, and Ashley Alexandra Laguna, 25, participated in a string of more than fifty burglaries at national pharmacy chains throughout Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach counties.
FDLE agents and local agency detectives identified the suspects in part through their consistent method of prying open and breaking the stores’ exterior glass doors and then shattering the glass partition of the pharmacy entrance door while wearing a mask and hood. Another common tactic most of the burglaries shared was that the suspects used a yellow crowbar.
BSO’s Burglary Apprehension Team (BAT) and detectives from the local law enforcement agencies coordinated efforts to track Martin and place him at the scene of several burglaries within Broward and Palm Beach counties.
On May 10, 2016, Martin, Pitter, and Hinson were arrested after law enforcement pursued them from the scene of a pharmacy burglary.
Special Agent in Charge Felipe Williams said, “Martin and his group of co-conspirators were dealing with dangerous drugs that should not be handled carelessly in our community. FDLE Miami and I are grateful for the diligence and collaboration with the multiple local and federal agencies to arrest these criminals. FDLE’s partnership with the Office of Statewide Prosecution led to justice being served to each individual in this case.”
Suspects who pleaded guilty and were sentenced in this case include:
- Darrish Martin, 31, of Pembroke Pines
- Arrested on May 10, 2016, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft of the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, trafficking amphetamine, dealing in stolen property, and tampering with a witness.
- Sentenced to 16 years in prison with five years of probation.
- Alonzo Tillman Hinson, 31, of Miami Gardens
- Arrested on May 10, 2016, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft of the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, and trafficking amphetamine.
- Sentenced to seven years in prison and five years of probation.
- Bryan Anthony Pitter II, 33, of Miramar
- Arrested on April 16, 2016, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft of the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, and trafficking amphetamine
- Sentenced to 365 days which has been served.
- Chantelle Ponce, 29, of Homestead
- Arrested on October 25, 2016, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with conspiracy to commit racketeering
- Sentenced to 20 months in prison which has been served.
- Raul Ponce Jr., 26, of Homestead
- Arrested on October 17, 2017, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft of the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, trafficking amphetamine, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and dealing in stolen property.
- Sentenced to five years of probation.
- Harrison Garcia, 33, of Hialeah
- Arrested on July 23, 2016, and booked into Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, trafficking amphetamine, continuing criminal enterprise, and dealing in stolen property.
- Sentenced to 13.5 years in state prison concurrent with 30 years in federal prison.
- JonLuis Labadie, 27, of Miami
- Arrested on May 23, 2018, and booked into the Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft of the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, trafficking amphetamine, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and dealing in stolen property.
- Sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation.
- Joanky Labadie, 25, of Miami
- Arrested on May 23, 2018, and booked into the Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, burglary with damage to property while wearing a hood or mask, grand theft in the first degree, grand theft in the second degree, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, and possession of codeine.
- Sentenced to five years in prison and 10 years of probation.
- Nereida Milagros Ortiz Almonte, 56, of Hialeah Gardens
- Arrested on May 23, 2018, and booked into the Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking morphine, possession of codeine, attempted tampering with physical evidence, and dealing in stolen property.
- Sentenced to time served and three years of probation.
- Ashley Alexandra Laguna, 25, of Hialeah Gardens
- Arrested on November 6, 2017, and booked into the Broward County Jail.
- Charged with racketeering, conspiracy to commit racketeering, trafficking oxycodone, trafficking hydrocodone, trafficking in morphine, possession of codeine, tampering with physical evidence, and dealing in stolen property.
- Sentenced to time served and three years of probation.
Chief Assistant Statewide Prosecutor Jonathan Bridges prosecuted the case.
See FDLE’s press release in 2016 when Martin, Pitter, and Hinson were arrested: https://www.fdle.state.fl.us/News/2016/May/Three-arrested-for-pharmacy-burglaries
