By Matt Ryan, Free Press Staff Writer • Thursday, September 23, 2010

http://www.burlingtonfreepress.com/article/20100923/NEWS02/100923031/Accused-ringleader-pleads-guilty-to-drug-and-money-laundering-charges

The man accused of heading a cocaine ring that operated out of an auto detailing business in South Burlington has admitted to committing several drug crimes.

Michael Olsen, 36, of Milton pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court in Burlington to one count of conspiring to distribute cocaine, one count of intending to distribute cocaine, one count of distributing cocaine, three counts of money laundering and one count of obtaining confidential phone records.

Olsen’s change of plea was not part of an agreement with the government, Assistant U.S. State’s Attorney Joe Perella said.

Judge William Sessions III ordered a presentencing report to be filed, and the court scheduled Olsen’s sentencing for Jan. 24. Olsen faces between 10 years and life in prison.

Olsen’s drug ring operated out of Rizzo Bros. in South Burlington, and sold cocaine throughout Chittenden and Franklin Counties in 2008 and 2009, according to court papers. Federal agents who broke up the ring said in affidavits that Rizzo Bros. functioned primarily as a front for the drug operation, and rarely worked on cars.

Twenty people were indicted in February for playing a role in the drug ring.

Olsen admitted Thursday in court to using drug proceeds to support Rizzo Bros., to buy a 2007 Chevrolet Tahoe and to pay start-up expenses for Callahan’s Pub, a now-defunct Burlington bar. He also admitted to enlisting the help of a Sprint-Nextel employee to access the cell phone records of federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents, to determine who in the ring might be supplying the agents information.

Olsen, however, denied the government’s claim that he led the ring.

"My main dispute is, they’re making me seem like the ring leader," Olsen said.

He also stuck by the not guilty plea he entered in response to a robbery charge. The government accused Olsen and co-defendant David Dean of Starskboro of robbing a competing cocaine dealer in Bristol of money, drugs and a gun in 2008.

In August, Dean — the ring’s "hired muscle," according to police informants — agreed to plead guilty to drug conspiracy and robbery charges, cooperate with investigators and, if necessary, testify against Olsen and other defendants in the case. In exchange, the government agreed to drop three related charges against Dean.

Dean was a trusted colleague of Olsen who three times flew to locations in Arizona and California in 2008 and 2009 to purchase kilograms of powder cocaine from unnamed suppliers, Perella has said.

Of the 20 people indicted, 16 have either entered plea agreements or pleaded guilty without making a deal with the government, Perella said. Perella said he expects to enter additional plea agreements in the case.