A pharmacy technician, who appears to have attended UB, was arrested on Wednesday for selling drugs from an ice cream truck he drove through Cheektowaga last summer.
Abraham I. Reinhardt, 23, allegedly sold prescription painkillers, hallucinogenic mushrooms and marijuana. He was arrested on Wednesday afternoon after a four-month investigation from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, The Buffalo News reported.
The pharmacy student currently attends St. John Fisher College in Rochester, N.Y. A LinkedIn account under the name Abe Reinhardt lists him as a 2012 pharmacology and toxicology graduate from UB and a student assistant in the UB Health Sciences Library, where he started working in Sept. 2010.
It also says Reinhardt is a pharmacy technician at Rite Aid in Tonawanda, while The News reported he is a pharmacy technician at a Rite Aid in the Rochester suburbs.
Dale M. Kasprzyk, a resident agent in charge of the DEA's Buffalo office, told The News the instant the DEA heard Reinhardt had access to children through his ice cream truck route, the federal agents accelerated their investigation of him.
The federal agents searched Reinhardt's college apartment in Rochester after securing a federal search warrant. They found prescription pain medications, like 80 Opana pain pills that are highly addictive. Agents also found marijuana, a substantial quantity of mushrooms and approximately $2,000 in cash, The News reported.
It is not yet determined whether or not the drugs are from Rite Aid. There is also no evidence Reinhardt sold drugs to children who bought ice cream from his truck, but officials are investigating the customers.
Reinhardt appeared at district court before U.S. Magistrate Judge Hugh B. Scott late Thursday afternoon to answer to his charges. Reinhardt potentially faces up to 20 years in prison.
Scott appointed attorney Larry Desiderio to represent Reinhardt after Reinhardt requested a court-appointed attorney, claiming "he cannot afford to hire a lawyer on his $150-a-week salary at Rite Aid or from his Amazon Internet business, which brings in between $100 to $300 a week," according to The News.
Reinhardt was released on a $5,000 signature bond and was ordered to undergo mental health assessment and stay away from alcohol and drugs. Officials discovered indications that he may have a substance abuse problem, according to The News. He is due back in court on Dec. 4.
Kasprzyk said the DEA will work with Rite Aid management to determine if there was any pharmaceutical theft involved.
U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr. said the arrest serves as a "warning to those with access to prescription medications through their employment that they will be pursued if they violate the law," The News reported.
Hochul told The News clamping down on abuse of prescription pain medicine is a major challenge for area law enforcement as more and more people overdose on those medications.
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Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
