The initial seizure came early Tuesday morning from a pickup truck that a Volusia County Sheriff’s deputy pulled over near DeLand. The rest of the haul -- what narcotics agents described as a veritable home pharmacy -- was seized from Lomangino’s house in Edgewater. Investigators are still trying to determine how Lomangino was able to obtain all of the narcotics -- everything from oxycodone, hydrocodone and methadone to morphine, codeine, xanax and valium. He admitted stealing some of it from Steve’s Pharmacy in Daytona Beach, where Lomangino works as a licensed pharmacist. How he obtained the rest is still a matter for investigators to sort out. Also arrested in the case was 28-year-old Allina Kirkland-Michaud of New Smyrna Beach.
The drug trafficking came to light after what started as a routine traffic stop at about 2:35 a.m. Tuesday morning. That’s when a deputy saw a pick-up truck near DeLand run through two stop signs without coming to a full stop. As the deputy was pulling over the truck, he immediately became suspicious when he noticed one of the passengers turn towards the back as if she was putting something under the seat. A DeLand Police K-9 team also responded to help out, and all three passengers in the truck were detained after the dog alerted to the scent of drugs. A search of the truck turned up 253 prescription pills that turned out to be controlled substances along with a receipt from Steve’s Pharmacy and a trace amount of marijuana.
Among the other items seized was a spoon with drug residue on it and a shoelace commonly used to wrap around the arm before injecting drugs. Both Lomangino and Kirkland-Michaud were arrested, while a third passenger was released after deputies concluded that he didn’t have anything to do with the drugs.
During questioning by deputies, Lomangino admitted stealing the drugs from his pharmacy over the past few weeks. He said Kirkland-Michaud has a drug addiction and that he feeds it by selling various prescription drugs on the street or trading them for Kirkland-Michaud’s drug of choice, the narcotic pain reliever roxycodone. He said he stole other drugs to sell or trade for the roxycodone because his pharmacy on Mason Avenue doesn’t keep much of it in stock. For her part, Kirkland-Michaud told deputies that Lomangino was a major drug kingpin in the New Smyrna Beach area and that she knew he was using his job at the pharmacy to feed her drug habit.
The defendants face initial charges of trafficking in hydrocodone, trafficking in oxycodone, possession of a schedule III narcotic, possession of a schedule IV narcotic and possession of drug paraphernalia. Both remain jailed, Lomangino on $552,500 bond and Kirkland-Michaud on $527,500 bond. Meanwhile, late Tuesday afternoon, drug agents with the Volusia Bureau of Investigation (VBI) executed a search warrant at Lomangino’s home at 2814 Juniper Drive. They seized another 4,318 prescription pills classified as controlled substances and a loaded handgun. During the course of the investigation, agents also seized another 1,215 prescription pills that are not classified as controlled substances.
The investigation is continuing and additional charges are pending. VBI is a multi-agency task force that pools resources from 10 local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in order to target mid- and upper-level narcotics traffickers as well as racketeering and organized crime.
Participating agencies include the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Attorney General’s Office of Statewide Prosecution, Daytona Beach Police Department, Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety, DeLand Police Department, Port Orange Police Department, New Smyrna Beach Police Department, the U.S. Department of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. VBI also is part of the Central Florida High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, or HIDTA, which is a multi-agency task force established by the U.S. Office of National Drug Control Policy to combat drug trafficking along the seven-county area hugging Central Florida’s I-4 corridor.
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