AUSA VICKIE E. LEDUC at 410-209-4885

October 3, 2006

NEW JERSEY MAN SENTENCED FOR CONSPIRACY TO: DISTRIBUTE ECSTASY; RETALIATE AGAINST A WITNESS; AND COMMIT KIDNAPING

BALTIMORE, Maryland - Fred Caruso, age 31, of Clifton, New Jersey, was sentenced today to 163 months in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute Ecstasy, conspiracy to retaliate against a witness, conspiracy to distribute ketamine and conspiracy to commit kidnaping, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein.

According to the statement of facts presented at his guilty plea, from 1999 through 2000 Caruso conspired with others to distribute ecstasy in Maryland and New Jersey. In November 2000 Caruso arranged to sell ecstasy to an established customer, Thomas Dixon, and sent a courier with approximately 41,000 tablets of ecstasy to Maryland to meet Dixon. Law enforcement officers were conducting surveillance of Dixon and observed the courier place two large shopping bags in Dixon’s vehicle. Dixon and the courier were arrested and the ecstasy was recovered. Dixon agreed to cooperate with law enforcement and made monitored calls to Caruso, who admitted to supplying the pills and sending the courier to deliver them.

Caruso was indicted in Maryland on charges of conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and a trial date was set for October 2001. In preparation for trial, the government provided copies of the monitored conversations between Caruso and Dixon to Caruso. The trial was subsequently postponed to allow the parties to conduct plea negotiations. On February 24, 2002 Thomas Dixon was shot six times as he left his home. He survived, but suffered permanent injuries as a result of the shooting. Court documents show that Caruso admitted to soliciting and hiring individuals to shoot Dixon in order to prevent him from testifying in the federal case.

In a New Jersey case that was transferred to Maryland, between October 10 and 17, 2002 Caruso and others kidnaped a victim, beat the victim repeatedly, threatened the victim with a gun, transported the victim from New York to New Jersey and eventually returned to New York where the victim was released. In addition, on December 18, 2002 a Passaic County New Jersey police detective witnessed Caruso distribute 300 bottles of ketamine to another person.

Dixon, age 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and was sentenced to two years probation on April 14, 2004.

United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein thanked the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Baltimore City Police Department and the Baltimore County Police Department for their investigative work in this Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force case. Mr. Rosenstein also praised Assistant United States Attorney Christopher Romano, who prosecuted the case.