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Friday, March 18, 2011

Brookfield, NY - Feds say Brookfield man was part of drug ring

OFF THE WIRE
John Pirroand and Stacy Davis
 newstimes.com


Glenn Wagner of Brookfield, right, leaves the federal courthouse in Bridgeport Tuesday with his lawyer Donald J. Cretella Jr. Wagner surrendered on charges of conspiring to distribute marijuana and possession of a sawed off shotgun in connection with a drug conspiracy ring. Photo: Ned Gerard / Connecticut Post

Neighbors wondered what was happening when they looked out their windows the evening of Feb. 24 and saw police swarming Glenn Wagner's house on North Lake Shore Drive.

Officers from Brookfield and Danbury were present. Agents from the federal Drug Enforcement Administration also showed up. But for weeks, representatives of all three law enforcement agencies refused to say why they were there.

The answer came Tuesday, when the 48-year-old Wagner and three other men -- a Bethel businessman, a Hells Angel from New Rochelle, N.Y., and another man with reputed ties to a New York organized crime family -- were charged with conspiracy to sell more than 200 pounds of marijuana.

One of the men, Mark Mansa, of Bethel, is accused of heading a ring that sold anabolic steroids to area high school athletes, according to federal prosecutors.
The allegations against Wagner stand in stark contrast to the image he portrayed to his neighbors.
Wagner is a good friend and neighbor, and the kind of person who would do anything for anyone, Margaret Furlan said.
"He's a wonderful person, that's all I know," she said. "He wouldn't hurt or do a bad thing to anyone."

Wagner is listed as the head of Glenn Wagner & Associates, a company located at the lakeside home he purchased in 1997. His neighbors said they did not know the nature of Wagner's business.

"He seemed like a nice guy, but I just knew him to say hello to," said a neighbor who asked to not be identified. "I don't even know what he did for a living."
According to the indictment unsealed in federal court, in addition to marijuana, the police seized an illegal sawed-off shotgun when they raided Wagner's home.
Wagner and the other three defendants -- Mansa, Kevin Lubic, who federal authorities said is associated with the Hells Angels motorcycle club, and Richard Sciaccetano, who has reputed ties to the former Bonnano organized crime family in New York -- all face charges of conspiracy to distribute marijuana.

Wagner is charged with possession with intent to distribute, in addition to the weapons counts.
The joint investigation that led to the arrests began when detectives from the Danbury Police Department's Special Investigations Division began looking into Mansa's activities about five years ago, according to law enforcement sources.
As the investigation developed, they brought in the DEA.
Mansa's associates in the alleged steroids distribution ring weren't identified in the federal indictment.
Lubic was released from federal prison in 2007 after serving a 77-month sentence for marijuana distribution.
Wagner also has a previous drug arrest, but on a much smaller scale.
In July 2007, he and a Florida man were charged with possession of cocaine, possession of marijuana and possession with intent to sell, after they were arrested at a Newtown Road hotel in Danbury.
The disposition of that case couldn't be determined Tuesday.
In 2001, Wagner purchased the lot across the street from his home and built a house on it, according to town records. A woman who answered the phone at that house Tuesday refused to speak to The News-Times.
Furlan said she hopes things turn out positively for Wagner, whom she said has health problems.
"He's been going through a lot lately," she said.

Read more: http://www.newstimes.com/policereports/article/Feds-say-Brookfield-man-was-part-of-drug-ring-1145493.php#ixzz1GojeLyVK