CAMDEN, N.J. (WRIC) — A federal grand jury in the District of New Jersey returned an indictment today charging four New Jersey men with narcotics distribution and money laundering offenses, according to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice.
According to court documents, William Panzera, Thomas Padovano, Bartholomew Padovano and Sean Tighe are all members of a drug trafficking organization that sent money and digital currency to China to purchase fentanyl and cathinones or bath salts to distribute in the United States. Additionally, Panzara set up a shell company to send funds to China to purchase fentanyl.
According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine.
The defendants were found to have initially received approximately two to three kilograms of narcotics at a time, concealed in parcels and sent through the mail, before they began importing them in larger quantities.
Court documents state law enforcement intercepted and seized one of the men’s shipments which contained approximately 50 kilograms of various kinds of fentanyl. Officials also seized more than 18 kilograms of fentanyl in a warehouse in Newark, New Jersey used by the defendants to store the drugs that had already been shipped from China.
The indictment states the defendants pressed the fentanyl into pills resembling commercial pharmaceuticals and sold them. They also made cash deposits into bank accounts to conceal their earnings from their illegal drug trafficking activities.
The men were charged with drug trafficking and international money laundering conspiracy as well as a number of other charges. If convicted, they could face between 10 years to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine the men’s sentence based on the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.