Ring leader gets up to 14 years in prison

March 25--Charged with operating one of two major illegal drug rings in the Poconos, Bryn Stevenson, 31, of Tannersville, has been sentenced to 6 1/2 to 14 years in state prison after pleading guilty.

Stevenson led one of two rings that together made a total of $2.1 million from illegally selling Oxycodone and other addictive painkillers between February 2011 and December 2012, authorities said. Still pending is the case of John Romagnolo, 45, of Cresco, who is charged with leading the other ring and who authorities said at one point called himself "the Scrip King."

Calling the situation unfortunate, defense attorney Matthew Rapa detailed how Stevenson, whose professional background includes carpentry and construction, got hooked on painkillers after suffering a motor-sports-related injury. Rapa said Stevenson's addiction led him to illegally sell painkillers to others like him to support his own habit.

Also pending are the cases of Patricia Rodriguez, 29, and her husband, Hector Rodriguez, 30, both of Bronx, N.Y., who authorities said supplied both drug rings out of the New York doctor's office where Patricia Rodriguez worked at the time.

She wrote prescriptions using names provided by both Stevenson and Romagnolo, who both then used "fillers" from their respective rings to get pills at various pharmacies in Monroe and neighboring counties, authorities said. Ring members used insurance or medical assistance to buy pills at lower costs, generating profits for both rings.

Stevenson ring members sentenced to probation are Denise Denucci, 26, and Mathias Myrthel, 30, both of Stroudsburg; and Jesse Fetherman, 32, David Marsh Jr., 31, Nicholas Sandt, 33, Clara Schubert, 47, and Elixandra Roman, 27, all of East Stroudsburg.

Ring members sentenced to confinement (electronic monitoring) are Nicholas Baliotis, 32, Matthew Burkhardt, 30, and Shakall Chanoine, 31, all of East Stroudsburg; and Sharise Martin, 33, Allen Thomas, 23, and Jessica Nicosia, 29, all of Stroudsburg.

Ring members sentenced to intermediate punishment are Dale Stephens, 26, of Stroudsburg; Kali Friedman, 22, of Marshalls Creek; and Christina McCorristin, 32, of Tannersville.

Defendants on the intermediate punishment program are given a two-year sentence, at least seven months of which are served in state prison. Defendants are placed in a therapeutic addiction treatment program during at least four of those seven months in prison, then in a similar community-based program for at least two months, followed by at least six months of outpatient treatment and finally additional treatment services during supervised reintegration back into the community.

Romagnolo ring members sentenced to probation are Kilee Cunningham, 21, of Stroudsburg; Zakiyyah Glover, 28, of Albrightsville; Roberta Holden, 32, and Shannon Skow, 24, both of Mount Bethel; Michael Prystash, 24, of Wilkes-Barre; and Timothy Tyszka, 31, of Delaware Water Gap.

Ring members sentenced to confinement are Francis Kyle, 26, of Mount Bethel; Brianna Minicozzi, 20, of Saylorsburg; Jose Ocasio, 29, of Blakeslee; Jean Romagnolo, 65, of Cresco; Christopher Saraceno, 38, of Greenwood Lake, N.Y.; and Robert Theune, 47, of East Stroudsburg.

Martina Collins, 31, of East Stroudsburg, has been sentenced to three to 18 months in Monroe County Correctional Facility. Samantha Borushak, 22, of Stroudsburg, has been sentenced to intermediate punishment.

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