Sometimes art imitates life, sometimes life imitates art. In the case of reality TV, sometimes the line blurs to the point of a hazy green out. But for Drita D’Avanzo, former star of the VH1 reality show Mob Wives, real life is full of far more drama than even the most histrionic episode of any TV show she’s appeared on.
According to TMZ, D’Avanzo’s husband, Lee D’Avanzo, was busted in a major cannabis sting in New Jersey earlier this week. Drita was featured on Mob Wives because of Lee’s supposed association with New York City’s Colombo crime family, but since Drita left the show in 2016, it appears that Lee’s lawless lifestyle has increasingly involved cannabis.
New Jersey prosecutors listed Lee D’Avanzo as one of 24 people nabbed in “Operation On the Ropes,” an investigation into the production and distribution of THC-infused Nerds Rope and Sour Patch Kids candies. The sting to take down the edibles ring covered multiple counties and resulted in the confiscation of 21,000 packs of infused candy, more than 1,000 pounds of weed, and 6,000 vape cartridges. In total, cops estimate the products were worth nearly $2 million in the East Coast’s underground cannabis market.
It is not exactly clear what role Lee D’Avanzo played in the THC Nerds Rope operation, but this isn’t the first time he’s had a cannabis-fueled run in with cops. Just last month, Staten Island police officers served a warrant at the D’Avanzo’s home and found wholesale quantities of weed, alongside a stash of loaded guns and illegal prescription pills.
As America’s legal cannabis industry continues to attract celebrities to the weed game, Lee D’Avanzo is not the first C-list star to try his hand at the black market side of the marijuana industry, with Cirque Du Soleil founder Guy Laliberté and heavy metal drummer Dustin Schoenhofer both recently busted for moving bud without a license.
Back in New Jersey, Lee is currently being charged with fourth-degree conspiracy to possess marijuana and fourth-degree possession of marijuana in excess of 50 grams.
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