19 plead guilty in Pasco-based drug trafficking ring

Nineteen people involved in a complex oxycodone trafficking ring based in Hudson have pleaded guilty to federal drug charges.

Each pleaded guilty to distributing oxycodone and will be sentenced in late October. The maximum penalty for each defendant is 20 years in federal prison.

The ring is best known for its leader and organizer, Arde Olsen, dubbed the "King of Hudson." Olsen, 51, ran the ring from his auto repair business at 11923 Pine Forest Drive and his former residence on Denton Avenue. Olsen's wife, Shannon, 45, and son, Jason, 23, also pleaded guilty.

Investigators said the ring delivered oxycodone around Florida as well as to Kentucky, Tennessee and Pennsylvania. Authorities said Olsen would have his co-conspirators visit doctors around the Tampa Bay area and obtain prescriptions for varying strengths of the painkiller.

Sometimes, Olsen would provide his co-conspirators with fake MRI reports or prescription histories to take to doctors. The co-defendants delivered the drugs to Olsen and received a daily supply of medication in return.

The drugs were then sold to dealers around the country, with the money coming back to Olsen. In October, authorities stopped Jason Olsen and co-defendants Earle Silcox, 30, and Jerald Gilio, 33, while they were driving in Georgia. Inside the car was $18,189 in drug proceeds, according to court documents.

In a February traffic stop, Silcox and another co-defendant, Anthony Christian, 27, were found with $38,480 wrapped in Doritos bags and hidden in their vehicle's tailgate.

Authorities began investigating the ring in 2007 and arrested the 19 defendants in February. Others who have pleaded guilty are:

William Joseph Califano, 29; Jessie Krumm, 21; Amber Marie Morreale, 19; Anthony Robert Upton, 28; Donna Jean Bynum, 31; Debra A. Collins, 48; Dannie James Mariedth, 50; Sarah Lynn Maynard, 25; Joshua McTavish Brown, 24; Billy Ray Hardin, 27; Soni Jo Cheesbrough, 27; Dennis Ashley Miller, 35; and Jereme Lee Gould, 24.