NEW YORK (1010 WINS) -- The owner of a pharmacy in Queens has been arrested and charged with obstruction of justice for allegedly mailing a greeting card filled with cocaine to a Drug Enforcement Administration agent who was investigating his business, prosecutors said Friday.
Dimitrios Lymberatos, 34, of Queens, was arrested and charged with one count of obstruction of justice and one count of conspiracy to obstruct justice on Friday, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said in a release.
The DEA started conducting a regulatory investigation into Lymberatos' pharmacy in November 2019, delaying the issuance of its registration to dispense controlled substances, prosecutors said.
Frustrated by the delay, Lymberatos hired a private investigator to find the home address of the lead DEA investigator on the case, according to prosecutors.
Lymberatos then allegedly mailed the investigator a greeting card filled with cocaine in an attempt to threaten her, prosecutors said.
In a statement released Friday, Acting U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss called Lymberatos' alleged actions "sinister," adding that they could potentially have caused the investigator "physical harm."
"Lymberatos' misguided message was received loud and clear — and he now faces a possibility of a length prison term for his potentially harmful attempt to obstruct law enforcement," Strauss said.
Lymberatos faces up to 20 years in prison if he is convicted. His attorney information wasn't immediately available Friday.
