News Release [print friendly page]
For Immediate Release:
October 30, 2009
Contact: Special Agent Tony Pettigrew
Number: 617-557-2138

Massachusetts Man Pleads Guilty to Pharmacy Burglary

OCT 30 -- CONCORD, NEW HAMPSHIRE : Steven W. Derr, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration for New England and United States Attorney John P. Kacavas announced today that Joseph Gordinas, 27, of Boston, Massachusetts, pleaded guilty to committing the May 16, 2009 burglary of the Rite Aid pharmacy in Ossipee, New Hampshire.

A sentencing hearing is scheduled for February 12, 2010 at the United States District Court in Concord. Gordinas faces a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years on the charge, though the sentence under the advisory federal sentencing guidelines is likely to be much lower.

Gordinas admitted that he and another person entered the Rite Aid pharmacy on May 16, 2009. The burglars loaded a sack with controlled substances stolen from a locked cabinet. Police responded to the store alarm and engaged in a high speed pursuit of a vehicle operated by Mark Savio. Gordinas was observed running from the vehicle after it stopped. He was captured several hours later. The sack of controlled substances was recovered from the area in which Gordinas fled.

Mark Savio, the driver of the vehicle, pleaded guilty on September 1, 2009 to aiding and abetting the burglary. A sentencing hearing in his case is scheduled for December 1, 2009 at the United States District Court. A third suspect, Joseph Savio, is scheduled for trial on December 8, 2009.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and the Ossipee Police Department led the investigation of this case.