FLAGLER COUNTY, Fla. – Flagler County Sheriff Rick Staly held a news conference Wednesday to discuss “Operation Heartbreaker.”
Described as an undercover effort, “Operation Heartbreaker” honed in on illegal narcotics sales and took nearly a year to complete, resulting in 43 arrest warrants for suspects ranging in age from 19 to 60 years old, Staly said.
Recommended Videos
Thirty-one of those arrests have since been carried out, according to Staly, with at least 26 of the warrants served Wednesday morning alone. Hundreds of thousands of dollars in cocaine, meth, fentanyl and other drugs were reportedly seized.
Those arrested and the charges they face are as follows:
| Name | Charge(s) |
|---|---|
| Keith Bryant | Sale of fentanyl Sale of cocaine |
| Michael Macnamara | Possession of a schedule 2 substance |
| Russell Hillard, III | Sale of cocaine Sale of fentanyl Unlawful use of a two-way device |
| Tony Lanning | Sale of a controlled substance |
| Stephanie Raimundo | Trafficking fentanyl Unlawful use of a two-way device |
| Keith Coyne | Possession of methamphetamine Possession of drug paraphernalia |
| Richard Spear | Sale of a controlled substance |
| Daniel Paulo | Cocaine possession Drug paraphernalia |
| Derick Farquharson | Trafficking cocaine Trafficking fentanyl |
| Alden Bradshaw | Trafficking cocaine Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon |
| Robert Elkins | Trafficking methamphetamine Possession of marijuana Possession of drug paraphernalia |
| Glib Fedotov | Possession of synthetic cathinones |
| Erin Stevenson | Possession of fentanyl Possession of drug paraphernalia |
| Todd Blanchard | Possession of fentanyl Possession of cocaine Possession of drug paraphernalia |
| Troy Reddin | Possession of oxycodone |
| Andrew Jones | Possession of fentanyl |
| Brett Savage | Trafficking synthetic cathinones |
| Jason Kjersgaard | Sale of a controlled substance |
| Christian Grasso | Sale of a controlled substance Possession of fentanyl |
| Jenni Paris | Possession of fentanyl |
| Mandy Mazzarese | Sale of a controlled substance |
| Leroy Sampson, Sr. | Sale of cocaine |
| Chancey Watson | Sale of synthetic cathinones Unlawful use of a two-way device |
| Paula Raymond | Trafficking methamphetamine |
| Anthony Mascarella | Trafficking methamphetamine |
| Carlos Hubbert | Sale of cocaine Unlawful use of a two-way device |
| Elisha Phillips | Sale of cocaine |
| Deandre McCall | Sale of synthetic cathinones Sale of cocaine |
| Patrick Miller | Sale of methamphetamine Sale of fentanyl |
| William Phillips | Sale of cocaine with 1,000 feet of a public park |
| Richard Knoblaugh, II | Sale of fentanyl |
“During this operation, we seized narcotics with a street value of more than $746,000. The investigation seized over $6,000 in cash, four firearms and over 1,300 grams of narcotics. The amount of fentanyl seized was enough to potentially kill 71,000 people,” Staly said.
[EXCLUSIVE: Become a News 6 Insider (it’s FREE) | PINIT! Share your photos]
Fourteen of the suspects sought are still on the run and are now considered fugitives, according to Staly.
“I suggest that they turn themselves in because otherwise they’re going to have to look over their shoulder everywhere they go until they do get arrested, because we will get them,” he said. “Sadly, these drug dealers are not strangers to law enforcement. Only one of these poison peddlers had never been arrested before; he has now, congratulations on making bad decisions that got you arrested. The other individuals have faced a total of 177 prior felony arrests and 157 misdemeanor arrests. They’ve had their chance to turn their life around, it’s now time for the criminal justice system to take swift action and firm action and put them in prison before they sell a fatal dose of poison and kill someone’s son, daughter, husband, wife, or many others that they sell to just so they can make a buck.”
The following are wanted suspects in this investigation and the charges they face:
| Name | Charge(s) |
|---|---|
| Edward Hupp, III | Sale of synthetic cathinones Sale of fentanyl |
| Eric Felder | Trafficking of synthetic cathinones Unlawful use of a two-way device |
| Ernest Hall, Jr. | Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public park Sale of fentanyl within 1,000 feet of a public park Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Jaquadis Johnson | Sale of cocaine Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Jerry Murphy, III | Sale of cocaine Sale of fentanyl Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Johnnie Emanuel | Sale of synthetic cathinones |
| Moses Warren | Trafficking of fentanyl Unlawful use of a two-way communication device Possession of schedule 2 substance Possession of MDMA Possession of cocaine |
| Rodrick Williams, Jr. | Sale of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a public park Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Shamine Giddens | Sale of cocaine Sale of fentanyl Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Solomon Coley, III | Sale of synthetic cathinones Unlawful use of a two-way communication device |
| Stanley Hankerson, III | Sale of methamphetamine Sale of cocaine |
| Terance Johnson | Sale of cocaine Sale of synthetic cathinones |
Staly said that the accused parties are for the most part independent of each other, adding many of the investigations into these subjects began with community tips.
“What usually happens is a neighbor sees a lot of traffic in and out of a house and they realize, ‘You know, that’s not a normal residential neighborhood,’ and so when they see that activity, they can call us, they can send us information anonymously — there’s multiple ways to get us that tip — and then we take that information and there’s tactics that we use to then build a case, whether we can get a search warrant into that house or arrest warrants,” he said. “...Our goal is to continue to go higher in these drug distribution groups which you saw we have the capability, we did it, was about an 18-month investigation and we raided multiple places and Flagler and Volusia County during the DTO that we closed down.”
Watch the news conference again in the video player below:
Get today’s headlines in minutes with Your Florida Daily: