| Larry
Lavin, an Ivy League-educated dentist, did not fit
the image of a “drug kingpin.” However,
for several years Lavin and his University of Pennsylvania
dental school classmate Kenny Weidler operated a major
drug enterprise. The young professionals who participated
in the drug ring included five dentists, two lawyers,
four stockbrokers, an airplane pilot, a high school
English teacher, an elementary school principal, record
company executives, accountants, a New Jersey state
auditor, a psychologist, a registered nurse, and a
variety of businessmen. They became known as the “Yuppie
Conspiracy.”
The cocaine operation was distributing
up to 110 pounds of cocaine a month in 14 states,
the District of Columbia, and Canada from 1978 to late
1984.
During the course of the investigation, 85 kilograms
of 95 percent to 99 percent pure cocaine with a street
value of $20 million, 15 cars, an airplane, a boat,
four
residential properties,
jewelry, gold, silver, and various weapons were seized.
A total of $2.2 million in cash, $528,000 of which
was found buried
in the ground, was also recovered.
 |
Lavin’s
seized Virginia Beach home and boat. |
Lavin had established a very sophisticated organization
using a network of workers, runners, and stash houses.
He hired a number of workers to assist him in distributing
the cocaine and set up apartments throughout Philadelphia
to break down the cocaine, process it, and make refrabricated
rocks of cocaine for sale. Lavin’s workers used
a beeper stem, scrambler-phones, and recording detection
devices to avoid detection by law enforcement authorities.
 |
Lavin’s
mug shot and a bestseller written about the
case. |
After Lavin and his associates were indicted in 1984,
the investigating agents received a tip. To avoid standing
for trial, Lavin was planning to jump bail and flee.
Unfortunately, by the time the agents got to his Devon,
Pennsylvania home with a bench warrant for his arrest,
Lavin, his pregnant wife, and toddler son were gone.
It would
take a year and a half before Lavin was located living
in an affluent Virginia Beach waterfront development
under an assumed identity. He was caught, in part,
due to a line in a letter written to his in-laws about
how a bear served his son cake at a birthday party.
 |
Article outlining
the fugitive search for Lavin. |
On September 4, 1986, Lavin pled guilty to operating
a continuing criminal enterprise, conspiracy to possess
with intent to distribute, tax evasion, and other charges
and was sentenced to consecutive prisons terms totaling
to 42 years.
Philadelphia home
|
