RED BANK – A borough restaurant owner was convicted June 4 on charges of conspiring to distribute over 1,000 kilograms of marijuana, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Marc Munson used his profits from the marijuana ring to invest in at least three Thai restaurants including Teak on Monmouth Street, according to a DEA press release.
Munson, along with partner Paul Karkenny, was convicted on the charges in Manhattan federal court following a three-week jury trial, according to the June 5 press release.
“From the Grand Canyon, to the Las Vegas strip and finally to the bright lights of New York City, this organization transported millions of dollars worth of marijuana across the country. Today’s verdict indicates that law enforcement is committed to dismantling drug-trafficking organizations that are responsible for distributing illegal narcotics throughout our communities,” said Special Agent in Charge John P. Gilbride in the release.
According to documents filed in the case and the evidence presented at trial before U.S. District Judge John G. Koeltl, from 1997 through February 2004, Munson and Karkenny participated in a conspiracy to distribute approximately 50,000 pounds of marijuana, the release states.
Munson ran the New York end of the operation, identified as “the Munson organization” or “the New York operation,” which ordered loads of marijuana that had been smuggled into the United States from Mexico, according to the release.
Munson and Karkenny would then work with co-conspirators based in Tucson, Ariz., and Las Vegas to have the marijuana transported to the New York City metropolitan area, the Detroit metropolitan area, and elsewhere, according to the release.
The loads of marijuana secretly transported across the country ranged in size from approximately 200 pounds to approximately 4,500 pounds per shipment, according to the release.
The Munson organization transported the smaller shipments in SUVs, and for larger shipments would arrange for heavy-duty pickup trucks towing enclosed trailers, such as race-car trailers decorated with “Speed Racer Autosport” logos, to help disguise the true nature of the trips, according to the release.
In the latter stages of the conspiracy, the Munson organization occasionally transported the marijuana in commercial moving trucks, according to the release.
During these trips, the Munson organization often used decoy cars to attract police attention so that the vehicles carrying the loads of marijuana could travel undisturbed and undetected, according to the DEA.
In addition, the Munson organization would often use pairs of transporters to make it appear that the occupants of a vehicle were a couple moving across the country, according to the release.
Munson, who lived in Brooklyn, N.Y., East Hanover and Holmdel during the course of the conspiracy, was the principal contact in the New York area for the Mexican suppliers and the other co-conspirators based in Arizona who handled the transporting arrangements, according to the release.
Munson also used Mexican suppliers who operated stash houses in Las Vegas as a second marijuana supply source to the New York operation, according to the release.
In his capacity as the head of the New York operation, Munson, among other things, coordinated the size of marijuana shipments to the New York metropolitan area and elsewhere; instructed the transporters of the marijuana shipments where to deliver the loads; and set the price of marijuana per pound that the wholesale customers would have to pay to the Munson organization.
In addition, Munson determined which wholesale customers would receive what portions of a load for distribution; gave money to transporters to bring back to coconspirators in Arizona and Nevada to pay for the marijuana; and paid transporters for their services in delivering the marijuana, according to the release.
Karkenny used his homes in Amityville, Long Island, N.Y., and in Mount Pocono, Pa., to stash large quantities of marijuana for the Munson organization, according to the release.
Karkenny received two shipments of more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana each in the summer of 1997 when living in Amityville, and after moving to the Poconos that fall, began to receive multithousand pound shipments of marijuana, including one shipment of approximately 4,500 pounds, according to the release.
Karkenny stored the boxes of marijuana in his basement, the release said.
Munson paid Karkenny to operate the stash houses and to break down the large loads of drugs into smaller loads, which Karkenny would then deliver to wholesale customers in New York City on Munson’s behalf, according to the DEA.
During the course of the conspiracy, Karkenny received more than 25,000 pounds of marijuana at his homes, according to the release.
Munson used his profits to invest in expensive homes, real estate ventures, and purchase of at least three Thai restaurants, including Teak in Red Bank, a go-go bar and palatial dwellings in the New Jersey area, according to the release.
Munson and Karkenny each face a maximum term of life in prison on the conspiracy count and a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, according to the release.
Four other members of the Munson organization, Steven Valiant, Mitch Ringquist, William Rigmaiden and Tiffany Neumann, pleaded guilty before trial and await sentencing, according to the release.
Two other indicted co-conspirators, Louise Karkenny and Perry Chrysanthopoulos, remain at large, according to the release.
Sentencing for Munson and Karkenny is scheduled for Sept. 19, at before Judge Koeltl.