A former NYPD cop pleaded guilty to narcotics distribution in and around Westchester County and New York City after trafficking large amounts of methamphetamine and a liquid version of the date-rape drug, prosecutors say.
John Cicero, of Bronxville, entered his plea on Tuesday to conspiring to distribute 50 grams of meth and gamma-butyrolactone (known as GBL), which could carry up to 40 years in prison.
"As he admitted today, over several years, Cicero was a leader of a drug trafficking ring, and he was personally responsible for moving over three kilograms of methamphetamine and 750 liters of GBL, and importing narcotics from overseas," said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.
According to the indictment, from at least 2017 through Feb. 2020, Cicero and three others stockpiled and sold kilos of meth and liters of GBL in apartments, hotel rooms and storage units in midtown Manhattan as well as a residence in Bronxville. Cicero brokered multiple large-scale narcotics deals over recorded prison calls with an inmate who at the time was in New York State custody.
Cicero was arrested in Feb. 2020 in a Wall Street hotel, in a room he had put under a fake name. In addition to the meth and GBL, investigators also found a bank card, fake ID, drug ledgers, credit card making equipment and notebooks full of victims' personally identifiable information.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection had previously seized the liquid date-rape drug sent from China to Cicero's New York home, court documents read. As part of his plea agreement, Cicero admitted to being a ringleader of the criminal enterprise.
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The criminal activity did not begin until years after Cicero left the NYPD, however, according to court documents.
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Three others, Marco Caso, Eric Baker and Mathew Matteo were previously arrested, while another person, Irma Materasso, was in state custody on other charges.
Cicero, 38, will be sentenced in Feb. 2022.