Life of caring was a cover, officials say

Anthony James Zasa Jr. was a model citizen and family man, devoted to helping troubled young people.

As a leader in VisionQuest, a national youth rehabilitation organization, Zasa worked with hundreds of teens at facilities in Franklin and Chambersburg, Pa.; New Lisbon, N.J.; and Tucson, Ariz.

He led a modest, "squeaky-clean life" over his 25 years in the company, sometimes serving alongside his wife and sons, also VisionQuest employees, said friends and former coworkers.

But federal authorities said Zasa had a darker side as a key member of another organization - one that was wrecking lives.

They say he worked for a Mexican drug trafficking cartel that supplied the Northeastern United States with millions of dollars of cocaine and crystal methamphetamine.

VisionQuest was his cover, authorities said.

Zasa, 52, of the southern Arizona town of Elfrida; his brother Roco "Rick" Zasa, 56, of Tucson, and others, tried to send more than $4 million worth of cocaine - 466 pounds of it - across the country in a motor home late last month to the Newark area for distribution, investigators alleged.

In another vehicle, they helped arrange delivery this month of more than $3 million worth of drugs - 75 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, the largest amount ever seized in New Jersey, authorities said.

VisionQuest president Pete Ranalli said he has known Anthony Zasa for 25 years.

"I knew his kids. My wife knows his wife," said Ranalli from the corporate office in Downingtown, Chester County.

"He used us to gain a reputation as a great upstanding citizen, and that's what blows my mind. This is totally shocking. I feel hurt and betrayed."

None of the alleged drug activities have been linked to VisionQuest, which has camps and programs in seven states. Indeed, former employees who worked with Zasa at the New Lisbon camp on Route 72 in Pemberton Township, Burlington County, said they were stunned to learn of his jailing on drug charges.

"He was a good director," said Sam Bell, 25, a former VisionQuest supervisor at New Lisbon. "You work with this person, dealing with the youth, but you never think he might be into something like that."

Sam Cole, 39, a former VisionQuest team leader at New Lisbon, said Zasa "was good to work for. If you had a problem, he tried to solve it."

But federal authorities said Zasa used some of those problem-solving skills as a leader in a drug organization that shipped drugs from the suppliers in Mexico to New Jersey.

"He camouflaged the true identity of his criminal activity by participating in a youth treatment organization," said Special Agent Douglas S. Collier of the Drug Enforcement Administration in New Jersey. "He was playing dual roles."

Zasa's alleged involvement in the drug ring came to light during a routine traffic stop. His brother Roco was driving a drug-laden Winnebago east through Groom, Texas, on Feb. 22 when police pulled him over and discovered the shipment.

Roco Zasa told federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents that Anthony Zasa and another man, Alex Heatherington, also known as Alex Lnu, had loaded the drugs into the motor home.

He said they agreed to pay him to drive it from Tucson to a Hilton hotel in Elizabeth, N.J., where he was to wait in a reserved room for further instructions.

Federal authorities seized the cocaine and replaced it with sham narcotics. They supervised its delivery to New Jersey on Feb. 28.

They said Roco Zasa received instructions from Anthony Zasa during the trip "as to how the drugs were to be delivered." At least some of those conversations were tape-recorded by investigators, according to court documents.

Hetherington, 29, of Arizona, and Kacey Root, 25, of Tucson, came to Rocco's room at the Hilton in Elizabeth, loaded the fake drugs into their rental vehicle, and were later arrested.

Anthony Zasa resigned from his job as state director of operations of VisionQuest in Arizona on Feb. 28 - hours before his arrest.

"I didn't believe it at first," said Ranalli, the VisionQuest president.

"Why would he resign before he got arrested? The feds wouldn't make a mistake like this."

Anthony Zasa, Hetherington and Root were jailed without bail. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sharon Ashe, who will prosecute the case, declined to comment on Roco Zasa's status, following his cooperation with authorities.

At least one more suspect remains at large. All the defendants were charged with possession with intent to distribute the drugs and conspiracy. If convicted, each faces imprisonment of 20 years to life and a $4 million fine.

The cocaine bust soon led federal investigators to information about a crystal methamphetamine shipment, arranged by the same drug organization. It was expected to go from Rhode Island to Newark for sale on New Jersey's streets.

DEA agents were waiting on March 3 when Adriana Ferns, 28, of Coventry, R.I., stopped her white Chrysler at the drop-off point - a parking lot off McCarter Highway in Newark. Authorities said they found the drugs inside laundry stuffed in duffel bags.

"You don't normally start a business with 466 pounds of cocaine and 75 pounds of methamphetamine," said DEA Special Agent Collier, of Anthony Zasa and his alleged drug operation.

"All the defendants were significant players in one tentacle of a Mexican drug organization," said Gerard P. McAleer, special agent in charge of the DEA's New Jersey division. "This tentacle has been dismantled, and the Mexican drug trafficking organization has been disrupted by this seizure."

Ranalli said he and others in VisionQuest were still reeling over the news. He said the organization probably had employed 20,000 people over more than three decades.

"Nothing like this has ever happened," he said. "I hate the fact that we are associated with this. This is the most hurtful thing I've had to go through. We never had a whiff of it. Zasa had never been arrested."

Ranalli said Zasa had lived frugally - driving an "inexpensive mid-range car" and living in a trailer when he was at the New Lisbon camp and in a "modest rancher" in Arizona.

"If someone had asked me what I thought of Tony Zasa, I would say, 'He's a great guy.' I would vouch for him," said Ranalli. "I would have given him a glowing recommendation."

What it is: A national employee-owned rehabilitation organization for troubled youth, providing education, mental health, child welfare and juvenile justice services at home and in VisionQuest sites in seven states. It has 40 program locations and has contracts with state, city and county governments and school districts to provide counseling and other activities. It has major contracts with the Philadelphia School District and other government agencies in the Philadelphia region.

What it does: Aims to straighten out juvenile offenders through programs centered on outdoor and wilderness challenges. Treatment focuses on education and counseling, with emphasis on nature, physical fitness and cultural history.

Where it is located: Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Florida, Arizona and California. Eastern headquarters in Downingtown, Chester County. Western headquarters in Tucson, Ariz.

   - Edward Colimore

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