Four Women Charged In Conspiracy To Distribute Thousands Of Oxycodone Pills In Hunterdon County, New Jersey

NEWARK, N.J. – Four women appeared in federal court today to face charges of running an oxycodone distribution conspiracy in Flemington, New Jersey, and elsewhere, U.S. Attorney Craig Carpenito announced.

Alicia Balaban, 35, of Wellington, Florida, Michele Call, 63, of Flemington, Nelida Rios, 55, of Flemington, and Marie DeJulia, 42, of Lodi, New Jersey, are each charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone. 

Balaban was arrested this morning in Wellington and appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge James J. Hopkins in West Palm Beach federal court. Call, DeJulia, and Rios were taken into custody this morning in New Jersey and appeared this afternoon before U.S. Magistrate Judge Mark Falk in Newark federal court. All four defendants were released on bail.

According to the complaint:

Balaban, who is Calls’s daughter and DeJulia’s friend, is the alleged leader of the drug trafficking conspiracy. From April 2016 through January 2018, Balaban, Call, and Rios allegedly worked together to secure prescriptions for oxycodone, fill them at pharmacies in Flemington, and then distribute the pills to DeJulia from Call and Rios’s Flemington residences. The conspirators allegedly distributed thousands of 30 mg oxycodone pills.  

The drug distribution conspiracy charge carries a a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine.

U.S. Attorney Carpenito credited special agents of the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New Jersey Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Valerie Nickerson in Newark, with the investigation leading to the charges.

The charge and allegations in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle Alfonzo Walsman of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Health Care and Government Fraud Unit in Newark.

Defense counsel: 
DeJulia: Steven Lember Esq., Flemington
Balaban: Michael Caruso Esq., Federal Public Defender, Southern District of Florida
Call: Linda Foster Esq., Assistant Federal Public Defender, Newark
Rios: Linwood A. Jones Esq., East Orange, New Jersey