A disgraced former Brooklyn prosecutor has filed federal charges that he helped run a national marijuana-distribution ring, including while he was still handling cases for the DA’s office.
Rami Joudeh, 36, admitted in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday that he used his cell phone to help associates in California ship boxes of marijuana from a New Jersey auto dealership since at least 2014. .
Federal investigators say they caught Joudeh red-handed after he fell on their radar during an investigation, and they tapped his phone in late winter 2016 to catch him doing business with his cohorts.
He reportedly worked as an assistant district attorney from April 2015 to May 2016.
Gang J&J Dumping, Inc. used his company to ship boxes in South Plainfield, NJ, making hundreds of phone calls to verify deliveries and payments.
In a March 1, 2016, call, Joudeh and an associate, Daniel Etkin, discussed raising money from others in an operation that owed another member of the distribution ring, Richard Gambale, records show.
“This other kid has to pay you so you can pay him,” Etkin said.
Jude replied, “There are two more. Among them there are 17,000 and if 10,000.
Etkin said, “Did you really stretch them that far?”
Jude replied, “I don’t know. Stop talking on the phone.’
– Yes, whatever, – answered Etkin. “Everything is fine.”
Joude: “If I get them 15k, that leaves 12,000 and I’ll give you six and Richie six, you know what I mean?”
Joudeh and other defendants are named in the 2019 complaint.
The FBI and local police first identified the drug ring in March 2015 after one of the boxes outside J&J Dumping was stolen by two armed men, according to reports.
In court, Joudeh pleaded guilty to using a cell phone to commit a felony and faces up to six months in federal prison.
According to a profile on his Mineola, L.I., law firm’s website, Joudeh worked as an assistant district attorney in Brooklyn before entering private practice, where he specialized in personal injury litigation.