Matawan Druggist Arrested In Federal Oxycodone Sweep

A 59-year-old Matawan druggist is one of three New Jersey suspects caught up in a federal probe of oxycodone distribution that also envelops a family from South Carolina.

According to the office of New Jersey U.S. Attorney Paul Fishman says that Randy Binder turned himself in to answer the federal complaint of dealing oxycodone, a day after the arrests of Scott Mazzara, 33, of Lanoka Harbor, and Joseph Aversa, 30, of Ventnor.

Binder is a pharmacist at Texas Road Pharmacy in Manalapan.

Seven suspects were also rounded up in Myrtle Beach: Richard Rublowitz, 57; his wife Mindy, 55; their sons Matthew, 33; Sean, 25; and Justin, 31; Sean's girlfriend Kristin Jacobs, 26; and Justin's wife  Jacklyn, 30.

Each is charged with one count of conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, which is punishable by up to 20 years in prison and fines as high as $2,000,000 on conviction.

Investigators say that Richard and Mindy Rublowitz worked in the office of an Oakhurst doctor who, according to confidential informants, began writing oxycodone prescriptions with only cursory, and often no, checkups involved, as early as January 2009. Richard Rublowitz, as office manager, eventually gained authorization to write the prescriptions himself.

Authorities allege that Rublowitz also began filling the prescriptions and dealing them covertly in spots such as hotels and Parkway rest stops, while the Oakhurst doctor wrote an increasing number of prescriptions for several of the defendants and some of their family members.

Binder's role came to light in wiretaps of Richard Rublowitz's phone in the past two months, say investigators. He's accused of handing the pills to Rublowitz and other suspects in the drug store parking lot, or leaving them in the lot for collection later. Authorities also contend that Rublowitz enlisted other pharmacies in New Jersey as well.

Investigators say that the operation involved sending pills by UPS and FedEx from New Jersey to Rublowitz family members in South Carolina. They estimate that 190 packages were sent since August 2009. They charge that a spot inspection in December 2011 yielded 379 tablets.

Authorities allege that Justin and Jackie Rublowitz manufactured fake prescriptions in Myrtle Beach that Richard Rublowitz and other suspects would redeem in New Jersey.

The probe was spearheaded by the FBI along with the U.S Drug Enforcement Agency's Tactical Diversion Squad.