FORT LAUDERDALE— As attorneys spar over the inclusion of evidence in the federal drug case against Vero Beach doctor Johnny Benjamin, new details are emerging about the months leading up tohis arrest.
Benjamin, 52, an orthopedic surgeon who practiced at Pro Spine Center, was caught up in a Drug Enforcement Agencyinvestigation involving confidential informants, hidden cameras and five other agencies.
He is charged with distributing the fentanyl on which a Palm Beach County woman overdosed in 2016 andattempting in Octoberto carry fentanylon aflight toPhiladelphia for distribution there, court records show.
If convicted, he faces 20 years to life in federal prison.
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Benjamin appeared Friday afternoon alongside his attorneys in the wood-paneled courtroom of U.S. District Judge WIlliam P. Dimitrouleasfor an evidentiary hearing.
The hearing centered around evidence obtained in an Oct. 6 search of Benjamin's bags at Orlando Melbourne International Airport, when Benjamin attempted to board a flight to Philadelphia carrying thousands of counterfeit pills supplied days earlier by a confidential DEA informant.
The search resulted in the seizure of the DEA's 4,000 fake pills and tipped Benjamin off that he was being investigated. He was arrested less than a week later by the Indian River County Sheriff's Office, and federal charges were filed Oct. 13.
After his arrest, more than 20 guns were located in a search of his home in the 900 block of Painted Bunting Lane, Vero Beach.
Two pistols were found in his 2008 Mercedes-Benz seized by the DEA.
Benjamin is being held without bail in a Miami federal detention facility as he awaits trial, scheduledto begin in April.
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Benjamin's attorneys—Donnie Murrell, of West Palm Beach, and Andy Metcalf, of Vero Beach— contended the airport search was illegal because it wasordered by the DEA but made to seem like a Transportation Security Agencysearch.
TSA searches can't be refused, but Benjamin's search could have been. Murrell said that wasn't clear to Benjamin, so all evidence related to the incident should be thrown out.
U.S. attorneys John McMillan and Rolando Garcia reject the claim, saying the search was "clearly voluntary." Theycalled several witnesses to the stand Friday to fight for the inclusion of the evidence:
- Sgt. Patrick Naughton and Officer Austin Moyer, of the Melbourne Airport Police Department;
- DEA special agent Michale Buemi; and
- Michigan State Trooper Bethany Craig.
Benjamin did not testify.
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The airport incident
Naughtonsaid he was approached the morning of Benjamin's flight by Buemi, who told him he was investigating Benjamin and asked if he could get consent to search his bags at the TSA checkpoint.
Naughton and Officer Augstin Moyer said after Benjamin and his bags cleared the TSA scanners, they approached the doctor and asked to search his two bags. Part of the interaction, captured by a hidden camera on Naughton's belt, was played in court.
Moyer said theytold Benjamin the TSA thought they saw bullets in his bag and that's why the search was necessary, but Naughton said that didn't happen.
Naughton's camera wasn't on to capture that part of the conversation.
"They wanted him to believe this was an extension of the administrative search he had no right to refuse," Murrell said.
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Benjamin told the men the pills were his chemotherapy medication and asked to take them back to the car, but the officers seized them.
Buemi said the DEA had earlier been denied a search warrant for Benjamin's bags, which is why they asked airport police to intervene.
"Our intention was never to allow those pills to leave the airport," Buemi said.
Buemi was adamant he had probable cause in the case, just not enough to search the bags since he didn't know the precise descriptions of the bagsbefore Benjamin appeared at the airport.
Buemi's cross-examination was contentious at times, and Dimitrouleas at one point directed him to answer Murrell's questions unless there was a specificobjection.
Benjamin, expressionless in his dark jumpsuit and handcuffs for most of the hearing, shook his head several times during the agent's testimony.
The prosecution called Craig, the Michigan state trooper, to the standto illustrate Benjamin knew how to refuse a search.
Benjamin and his father-in-law, David Milton Lurry, 66, werecharged in Sanilac County, Michigan — on Lake Huron, about 94 miles north of Detroit — with maintaining a drug house and manufacturing marijuana, according to an arrest report.
Craig responded to the home in October 2016 to investigate accusations of electricitytheft and became suspicious at the high amount of electricity used by the house.
Benjamin refused her request to search the home, forcing her to obtain a search warrant. About 60 marijuana plants were discovered inside.
After about two hours of questioning and arguments, the hearing concluded.
Dimitrouleas is expected to issue an order on the evidence's inclusion in the next week.
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