Parisi Pot Bust is Apparently Not a First for 4th-Generation Owner Frank Parisi [Updated]
The high times are over for Frank Parisi, who runs the Parisi Bakery on Elizabeth Street. He was busted last month for involvement in a $15 million national pot distribution ring. And, as it turns out, pushing product (i.e. dispensary) on the doorstep of 290 Elizabeth Street.
(We first started hearing rumors of drug activity at the Elizabeth Street outpost way back in March. There were unconfirmed allegations at the time that undercover agents were previously spotted in the area.)
According to the Daily News, the fourth-generation owner was accused of possessing more than 20 pounds of marijuana at 290 Elizabeth Street. Packing supplies were also discovered in an apartment that shares a building with the iconic Italian bakery, according to the indictment.
“Mr. Parisi’s role was to distribute that on the streets of New York,” Assistant District Attorney Brian Foley said at Parisi’s arraignment in Manhattan Supreme Court last month.
Parisi, who helps run Parisi Bakery and the family’s deli on the Lower East Side, was also caught on wiretaps discussing the bulk purchase of cannabis.
“Do you have any of the high end?” Parisi asked co-defendant Stephen Gallo in one call.
Gallo then discusses the availability of Purple Dragon and Lemon Haze strains of pot, court papers say.
This is the second time in a baker’s-dozen years that Parisi was found in this position. Another police op back in 2003 netted 75 pounds of pot (and a shotgun) from his home at 290 Elizabeth Street. Same address as the other bakery.
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