Scarsdale Couple Convicted for Running Pill Mill, Mamaroneck Woman Indicted for Murder of Baby Daughter

On September 6, 2018 Bridget G. Brennan, New York City’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor, announced that a Manhattan Supreme Court jury returned a guilty verdict against Scarsdale residents Dr. Rogelio Lucas and his wife Lydia Lucas, who managed her husband’s medical practice. The Lucases were convicted on one count of Conspiracy in the Fourth Degree and 29 counts of Criminal Sale of a Prescription for a Controlled Substance following a four-week trial. A licensed internist since 1972, Dr. Lucas surrendered his medical license in April of 2016 while criminal charges were pending. The Lucases own a home at 15 Black Birch Lane in Scarsdale.

As proven at trial, Dr. Lucas and his wife operated a medical practice at 215 West 101st St., Suite 1A, in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, where they engaged in a conspiracy to sell prescriptions for the addictive opioid painkiller oxycodone for no legitimate medical purpose. Prior to 2009, the Lucases offered legitimate medical services through a primary care practice that catered to the elderly and accepted insurance. Between Jan. 2, 2009 and May 13, 2015, the practice underwent a radical transformation into a pill mill that churned out prescriptions for oxycodone in exchange for illegal cash payments.

“As today’s verdict makes clear, doctors and medical personnel who use their special privileges to illegally distribute addictive drugs for no medical reason will be judged by same standards as street dealers,” said Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan. “Dr. Rogelio Lucas and his wife Lydia reaped hundreds of thousands of dollars by selling prescriptions for $120 per visit. They will now face the consequences of the harm they caused by putting millions of highly addictive oxycodone pills out on the street.

“I thank the jury for their careful attention in this case, and the law enforcement agencies which methodically pieced the evidence together,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Brennan said. Sentencing is scheduled for June 21, 2018 before Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Kirke Bartley, who oversaw the trial.

Rogelio and Lydia Lucas were arrested on June 9, 2015 and released on $500,000 bail each. In conjunction with the arrests, agents and investigators conducted court authorized searches of the Lucases’ office and apartment in Manhattan, and a second home at 15 Black Birch Lane in Scarsdale, NY.

As detailed at trial, approximately $680,000 in cash was recovered from the Scarsdale residence. Photographs in evidence showed boxes recovered from a bedroom containing cash and handwritten notations by Lydia Lucas indicating the precise amount of money in each box.

Evidence further revealed that Lydia Lucas served as the gatekeeper for the office and maintained lists of the numbers of patients and amounts paid per day. Generally, patients who received oxycodone prescriptions were charged $120 cash for each office, while those few who did not receive oxycodone prescriptions were charged $80. Over the course of one year alone, Dr. Lucas and his wife made approximately $500,000 in cash deposits into multiple bank accounts.

A sign posted in the office instructed patients that while the office would accept insurance, such as Medicaid and Medicare, those who chose to pay in this manner would be restricted from receiving oxycodone.

Multiple drug rings received prescriptions for oxycodone from Dr. Lucas that were then filled at pharmacies and the pills sold on the black market. Patients who tested negative for oxycodone, indicating that they were not taking the medication, were still provided with prescriptions, despite clear indications they were not themselves taking the pills. Medical examinations were perfunctory and MRIs found in the office’s files contained obvious indications of forgery, including spelling errors.

Crowds gathered in the waiting room, prompting complaints by members of the community. Dr. Lucas relocated his office three times before landing at 215 West 101st St., Suite 1A. A court authorized review of Dr. Lucas’s prescribing history revealed he wrote oxycodone prescriptions for approximately 45 to 50 individuals per day at the height of the conspiracy.

Defendant: Cynthia Arce (DOB 7/10/89

Mamaroneck Woman Indicted for the Murder of Baby Daughter

On September 12, 2018 Westchester County District Attorney Anthony A. Scarpino, Jr. announced that Cynthia Arce of Mamaroneck was indicted on charges related to the death of her toddler daughter, Gabriella Boyd, in their Chestnut Avenue home April 28, 2018, and the attack on two Village of Mamaroneck Police Officers.

The Westchester Grand Jury indicted Arce on one count of Murder in the Second Degree, a class A felony, in the death of Gabriella Boyd.

In the attack on the two police officers she faces the following charges:
2 counts of Attempted Aggravated Murder, class A felonies
2 counts of Attempted Aggravated Assault upon a Police Officer, class C felonies
2 counts of Assault in the Second Degree, class D felonies

Incident Location: A house located at 507 Chestnut Ave. in the Village of Mamaroneck where Arce lived with her mother and daughter.

Background:
Prosecutors allege, on April 28, 2018, Village of Mamaroneck Police responded to 507 Chestnut Ave. following a 911 call from Arce's mother, reporting that someone was dying. When they arrived, they found 2-year-old Gabriella Boyd unresponsive on her bed.

Officers immediately tried to resuscitate the child. While clearing the house, other officers located Arce in an adjacent bedroom behind a closed door. Arce had both her hands hidden behind her back and refused to comply with repeated police commands to show her hands. Arce then brought both hands from behind her back and above her shoulders revealing two large knives, one in each hand. She charged at the officers, repeatedly slashing at two of them. When Tasers failed to subdue her, a third officer shot Arce, ending the confrontation. Officers continued their efforts to resuscitate the child until paramedics arrived.

Gabriella Boyd was transported to White Plains Hospital where she was pronounced dead. Following an autopsy, the Medical Examiner’s Officer ruled her death to be a homicide. Two Village of Mamaroneck Police Officers were injured as a result of the confrontation.

Arce was taken to Westchester County Medical Center where she was treated for several weeks for her gunshot injuries. Arce was arrested at the hospital, charged, and remanded by a judge to the Westchester County Jail where she has remained since.

At this time, the date of Arce’s arraignment on this indictment is pending.

The indictment was the result of a joint investigation among the Village of Mamaroneck Police Dep, the Westchester County Department of Public Safety, and the Westchester County District Attorney’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Laura Murphy, Bureau Chief of the Career Criminal Bureau, and Nicholas DiCostanzo, both of the Superior Court Trial Division.