The former Poquoson man employed his mother, father and two sisters as drug dealers, couriers and money launderers in one of the largest drug rings ever to operate on the Peninsula, they said.
The five members of the Haugen family were among 33 people charged this week in federal court with various roles in the drug business, which stretched across the country from Albuquerque, N.M., and ended in Poquoson.
“When we think of Poquoson, few of us would think of it as an area or a town that could be home to such a drug operation,” said Paul J. McNulty, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. “Unfortunately, it’s true.”
Haugen, 38, was charged as one of two kingpins in the operation. The other man, Anthony Pacheco, sent the drugs throughout the country from his base in Albuquerque, prosecutors said. They also said Pacheco had a connection in Mexico to import drugs across the border, then he and Haugen distributed them.
In addition to the Peninsula, their operation sold drugs in Chicago, Atlanta, Pittsburgh and other parts of Virginia, prosecutors said.
“It’s a remarkable case, just from the scope of it,” McNulty said. “You don’t see a case like this come around very often.”
Prosecutors would say only that the Pacheco and Haugen families were friends, but they wouldn’t describe how the families first met.
Police caught wind of the operation about four years ago, and a multi-agency task force began investigating. Police think the drug ring began operating in 1996.
Prosecutors think the drug ring brought more than 10,000 pounds of marijuana and 40 kilograms (88 pounds) of cocaine to the Peninsula and other areas of the country. They estimated the worth of all the drugs at $23 million and the profits from the operation at more than $8.5 million.
Police think Haugen received and packaged much of the drugs at a home at 10 Wagner Road in Poquoson until he moved to Emporia last year.
But the Haugen family has deep roots in Poquoson.
“They have been in the Poquoson area for many, many years, dating back to high school for George,” said Sgt. Paul Swartz, who coordinated the task force that investigated the drug ring.
The drug ring set up several fake businesses through which drug money was funneled. Locally, the drug operation set up a tailoring business in Norfolk that prosecutors think was a front for laundering money and receiving drugs. There were no businesses used on the Peninsula and no indication that Haugen had any legitimate businesses here, according to court records.
Throughout the investigation, police seized 940 pounds of marijuana, 17 kilograms (37.4 pounds) of cocaine, 23 firearms and $139,000.
So far, 30 of the people indicted have been arrested. Fifteen of the people lived in Newport News, Hampton or Poquoson.
A portion of the drugs seized was on display Friday in the Poquoson City Council chamber. McNulty conducted a news conference there to discuss the investigation and praise the officers and agencies involved.
Police chiefs and other officers from around the area proudly posed for pictures next to a table overflowing with bricks of marijuana and bags of cocaine.
“We’re not a major metropolitan area like New York or Miami,” Newport News Police Chief Dennis Mook said. “However, what we have, I’m sure they wish they had, and that’s a group of people with unending tenacity. We’re going to get you, and we’re going to get you off the street.”
LOCAL PEOPLE INDICTED IN DRUG RING
* George Franklin Haugen, 38, of Emporia, formerly of Poquoson
* Shirley Fay Haugen, 61, of Newport News
* Wayne Kenneth Haugen, 59, of Poquoson
* Shirley Gail Haugen-Newman, 35, of Hampton
* Tracy Lynn Haugen, 29, of Staunton, formerly of Poquoson
* James Brian Bollinger, 35, of Newport News
* Kenneth Dean Copeland, 38, of Newport News
* Timothy Cole Evans, 40, of Newport News
* Phillip William Shane Furr, 25, of Hampton
* Ryan Christopher Hancock, 23, of Hampton
* Daniel Linwood Harden, 32, of Newport News
* Robert Lee Hill, 37, of Poquoson
* James Denver Morse Jr., 40, of Poquoson
* David Charles Patierno, 44, of Newport News
* Brian Thomas Sherwood, 22, of Hampton
Troy Graham can be reached at 247-4741 or by e-mail at tgraham@dailypress.com
Since authorities arrested them in March, the suspects have been accepting plea agreements to avoid trial at a steady pace. On Monday, the last seven defendants pleaded guilty to various drug and money-laundering charges, less than 24 hours before a trial for six of them was scheduled to begin in a Norfolk federal court.
George Haugen, a former Poquoson man charged as one of the operation’s two kingpins, accepted a plea agreement Monday that carries ten years to life in prison.
Prosecutors called the drug ring a family affair for the Haugens. In addition to George, police arrested his mother, father and a sister, who all pleaded guilty Monday. A second sister, Shirley Haugen-Newman, also was arrested and was the first defendant to accept a plea in April. She agreed to cooperate with prosecutors, which could have meant testifying against the rest of her family.
They were among the 33 people authorities arrested in March for running 10,000 pounds of marijuana and 88 pounds of cocaine from Albuquerque, N.M., to the Peninsula and other areas of the country. Fifteen people from the Peninsula were charged in the operation, which prosecutors believe netted about $8.5 million in profits since 1996.
George Haugen and Anthony Pacheco, a New Mexico man, were charged as the leaders of the operation. As the kingpins, they both faced 20 years to life in prison.
Pacheco pleaded guilty on Friday, accepting essentially the same deal as Haugen.
Police believe Pacheco started importing drugs from Mexico and sending them to the Peninsula in 1996. He began working with two Peninsula men — Kenneth Copeland and Daniel Harden. Those men quickly fell out of favor after they couldn’t pay their drug debts, investigators said, and Haugen stepped in to take their place.
The operation eventually branched out to other areas of Virginia, as well as Chicago, Atlanta and Pittsburgh.
Prosecutors said Haugen received and packaged drugs at the waterfront home he shared with his parents on Wagner Road. Haugen moved to Emporia last year and set up a taxicab service after he learned that someone in his operation was cooperating with the police, prosecutors said.
Pacheco also relocated — to Staunton, where he assumed an alias — after one of his nephews was arrested with a load of marijuana and cocaine. He shared a home with Tracy Haugen — one of George Haugen’s sisters — and the couple had an infant child when they were arrested.
The ring often shipped drugs in cars disguised with “pro-family” bumper stickers. They also deployed decoy vehicles intended to attract the attention of the police away from the car hauling the drugs, prosecutors said.
The ring also sent drugs by UPS and Federal Express, sometimes shipping them to local businesses, which authorities described as fronts for the drug operation. Tracy Haugen was arrested at International Hong Kong Tailors, a Norfolk business she managed, after she accepted a Federal Express package containing 48 pounds of marijuana.
As of Friday, six defendants, including the four remaining Haugens, appeared ready to face trial, and the court had scheduled three weeks to hear all the evidence. But the defendants worked out their guilty pleas with prosecutors over the weekend.
THE PLAYERS
These defendants have pleaded guilty and been sentenced:
James Brian Bollinger of Newport News — 37 months
James Cook of Staunton — 72 months
Kenneth Copeland of Newport News — 46 months
Timothy Evans Sr. of Newport News — 65 months
Andy Gutierrez of Albuquerque, N.M. — 78 months
Daniel Harden of Newport News — 60 months
Shirley Haugen-Newman of Hampton — 60 months
Maceo Jean-Pierre of Albuquerque, N.M. — 60 months
Donna Pacheco of Albuquerque, N.M. — 60 months
David Patierno of Newport News — 48 months
Melissa Vick of Albuquerque, N.M. — 72 months
Sean Vick of Albuquerque, N.M. — 60 months
These defendants have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing:
Mario Andrade of Albuquerque, N.M.
Manuel Beltran Jr, of Albuquerque, N.M.
Rebecca Brito of Albuquerque, N.M.
Peter Fernandez of Albuquerque, N.M.
Philip Shane Furr of Hampton
Ryan Hancock of Hampton
Robert Hill of Poquoson
George Haugen of Emporia, formerly of Poquoson
Tracy Haugen of Poquoson
Shirley Haugen of Poquoson
Wayne Haugen of Poquoson
James Morse Jr. of Poquoson
Jeffrey Moy of Culpeper
Cesar Munoz of Albuquerque, N.M.
Anthony Pacheco of Albuquerque, N.M.
Jose Ramirez of Albuquerque, N.M.
Monica Rodriguez of Albuquerque, N.M.
Richard Rodriguez of Albuquerque, N.M.
Jeremy Roybal of Albuquerque, N.M.
Suzanne Roybal of Albuquerque, N.M.
Brian Sherwood of Hampton