NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) — Three Florida men who federal
authorities say stole about $80 million in prescription drugs from an
Eli Lilly warehouse in Connecticut have been charged with conspiracy and
theft, the U.S. attorney’s office announced Tuesday.
The 2010
theft from the warehouse in Enfield — believed to be the largest theft
in the state’s history — included thousands of boxes of Zyprexa,
Cymbalta, Prozac, Gemzar and other drugs, authorities say.
Two
other men previously were charged in the case. The U.S. attorney’s
office Tuesday identified the three new defendants as Yosmany Nunez, 41,
also known as "El Gato," of Southwest Ranches; Alexander Marquez, 40,
of Hialeah; and Rafael Lopez, 49, of Miami.
Nunez’s attorney declined comment; an attorney for Marquez did not immediately return a message left for
comment.
Yoel Molina, an attorney who represented Lopez in Florida said, "The evidence will support our
position he’s an innocent man."
Nunez,
Marquez and Lopez, all three Cuban citizens, were arrested last week in
Florida. Amed Villa of Miami pleaded guilty last year to theft and
conspiracy charges in the case. He is awaiting sentencing. His
39-year-old brother, Amaury Villa, pleaded not guilty in Connecticut and
is awaiting trial.
The new indictment alleges that between
January and March of 2010, Amaury Villa, Nunez, Marquez and Lopez and
one other person conspired to steal pharmaceuticals from the Eli Lilly
warehouse. Authorities say Villa, Nunez and others traveled from the
Miami area to Connecticut to gather information for the heist. They
allege that Lopez and another person traveled to Flushing, N.Y., and
purchased tools to break into the warehouse then went to Connecticut.
On
March 13, 2010, Marquez drove a tractor-trailer to the warehouse
parking lot, authorities say. Later that evening, Villa and a
co-conspirator used a ladder to climb onto the roof of the warehouse
then cut a hole in the roof and dropped down into the building and
disabled the alarm, prosecutors say.
With the truck backed up to
the loading dock, Villa and others loaded up about 49 pallets of
pharmaceuticals, the indictment says. Lopez allegedly was nearby and
talking by cellphone with a co-conspirator who was inside the warehouse,
the indictment says.
Authorities allege Marquez then drove the
truck to Florida, where he met up with Villa, Nunez, Marquez and a
co-conspirator, and they unloaded the drugs and put them in a storage
building in the Miami area. Authorities say some of the stolen drugs
were recovered Oct. 14, 2011, in a search of a storage facility.
The
three men are charged with one count of conspiracy, which carries up to
five years in prison; four counts of theft from an interstate shipment,
each of which carries up to 10 years; and one count of interstate
transportation of stolen property, which also carries up to 10 years.
Nunez
and Marquez were detained pending hearings Thursday in Fort Lauderdale,
Fla. Lopez was released on bond and is scheduled to be arraigned in
Connecticut on May 1.
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