Two convicted in murder of drug rival in Lansdowne
Guilty verdicts were handed down Friday to two Delaware County men accused of murdering a drug rival in an illegal oxycodone distribution ring.
Anthony Vetri, 30, of the Essington section of Tinicum, and Michael Vandergrift, 31, of Chester, were found guilty in a federal jury trial for conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and for the Jan. 4, 2012, murder of Gbolahan Olabode, a man whom Vetri and Vandergrift shared a common distributor.
Between 2008 and June 4, 2013, Vetri and Vandergrift obtained large sums of oxycodone from registered pharmacist Mitesh Patel, who owned three pharmacies in Lansdowne, Drexel Hill and Philadelphia.
Patel allegedly used the pharmacies, which were coowned by Olabode until his death, to order large quantities of oxycodone. Olabode, Vetri and Vandergrift then sold the pills on the street and provided Patel with the proceeds, which were deposited into bank accounts associated with the pharmacies, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say Patel and Olabode wrote themselves checks from bank accounts that were falsely listed on business records as returns for equity contributions to the businesses.
Olabode, 45, was targeted and gunned down by Vandergrift and accomplices Michael Mangold and Allen Carten, who both previously pleaded guilty to murder and drug conspiracy charges, to obtain a greater share of the pills from Patel.
On Jan. 4, 2012, Vandergrift, Mangold, and Carter waited for Olabode to return to his apartment on Owen Avenue in Lansdowne. When Olabode arrived, Vandergrift and Mangold each used a firearm to fire 27 shots at Olabode, who was struck 13 times in his head and body. Olabode was transported to Mercy Fitzgerald Hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Following the murder of Olabode, Vetri continued to illegally distribute oxycodone that he obtained from Patel into 2013.
In the days following his murder, Olabode was remembered by locals as a friendly neighbor with an impressive physique. A competitive bodybuilder, Olabode placed second the 2007 National Amateur Bodybuilders Association Pennsylvania Grand Prix.
He was also an author, publishing his autobiography in 2001 titled, “Born Suspect: The Life and Trails of Gbolahan Olabode.”
Olabode was a Temple University student in 1992 when police arrested him at a laundromat for a burglary he did not commit, and of which he was later acquitted.
Olabode sued the department in 1993, and eventually won a $100,000 settlement. The book also described his upbringing in Nigeria and immigration to the United States.
Carter, Mangold and Vandergrift were arrested on firearms charges on Jan. 20, 2012, a few weeks after the murder. A Pennsylvania State Trooper pulled over their automobile on I-95 for multiple traffic violations. Inside the vehicle were the three men, a 4-month-old infant and a 2-year-old.
The men were each allegedly carrying weapons. State police confiscated a .38 Special Smith and Wesson revolver with an obliterated serial number, a .40-caliber Taurus semiautomatic handgun and a .40-caliber Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun.
Patel, Mangold and Carter all previously pled guilty to charges for their respective involvement in drug distribution, the murder of Olabode and other offenses, and are currently awaiting sentencing.
Vetri and Vandergrift each face a sentence of up to life imprisonment. Both defendants remain in custody awaiting sentencing. In addition to lengthy prison sentences, the government is seeking forfeiture of more than $2.7 million in drug proceeds and more than $1 million in laundered drug money.