Appearing at a press conference with the family of a Suffolk woman killed by illicit drugs laced with Fentanyl and Tranq, District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced the arrest of the dealers who sold her the lethal drugs in a major takedown of 30 defendants following three long-term narcotics trafficking and gang investigations. The bust netted over two kilos of cocaine, a kilo of Fentanyl, illegal Firearms, and a high-capacity ammunition feeding device.
Tierney, who led a number of law enforcement agencies in making the arrests, called for “death by dealer” statutes in state law and other measures that he said would help prosecutors turn the tide against drug pushers. He made the announcement in front of a photograph of Michelle Tomitz, a Smithtown mother of a six-year-old daughter who was found unresponsive in February after purchasing drugs from two of the defendants. Tests confirmed that she had been poisoned by cocaine laced with Fentanyl and Xylazine, also known as Tranq, a veterinarian medicine used to sedate large animals.
“Something has to be done — we’re losing too many people, too many young people,” said Mary Tomitz, the mother of the 30-year-old victim. “It’s a struggle. It’s a struggle to lose a child,” she said, adding that Michelle’s daughter is being taken care of by her father. “There’s frustration because our child passed away from drugs. Our hope is that other parents won’t have to go through this again.”
“The drug dealers are relentless,” said Michelle’s father, Kevin. “She was easygoing, so it was easy to sell drugs to her.” He said of the dealers: “They have no conscience. They got them, and I hope another guy doesn’t come up to take his place. They shouldn’t be doing this in the first place. They have to pay for what they have done.”
Teaming up to capture the pushers were the district attorney’s East End Drug Task Force; the Telephone Records, Surveillance Section, and Gun Crime Reduction Unit of the Suffolk County Police Department; the Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York; the United States Drug Enforcement Administration; the U.S. Department of Homeland Security; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the police departments of Riverhead, Southampton, and Southold towns.
According to Tierney, investigators executed over 100 search warrants into cellular telephones, residences, vehicles, and other digital sources of data. The execution of these warrants, coupled with thousands of hours of electronic and video surveillance, resulted in the arrest of Dushane Telfer and Oshane Perkins, the dealers charged with selling the drugs to Michelle Tomitz. The investigations uncovered three separate operations, two of which were led by alleged Blood gang members including Telfer, a 30-year-old North Amityville man, and Paris Parks, 31, of Greenport. A third defendant is 33-year-old Gabriel Fernandez of West Babylon, an alleged member of the Trinitarios street gang.
“Along with our law enforcement partners, we undertook a comprehensive investigation into who was dealing deadly drugs in Suffolk County. We discovered three alleged drug distribution networks and set about to dismantle them,” said Tierney, who was surrounded by more than two dozen law enforcement officials in making the announcement. “These indictments should send a message to those flooding the streets of Suffolk County with dangerous drugs that we will use every investigative tool in our toolbox to stop the flow of these drugs onto our streets,” he said, adding, “The alleged drug dealing operations all centered around the distribution of Fentanyl, cocaine, and cocaine mixed with Fentanyl, and spanned from the eastern Suffolk County towns of Southold, Riverhead and Southampton, throughout western Suffolk County all the way into New York City.”
According to Tierney, “Overdoses in Suffolk County, just like the rest of the United States, are at crisis levels. This is an emergency, and we are treating it as such. However, law enforcement can’t do this alone; we need our state lawmakers to help. Tragically, any help will come too late for Michelle Tomitz and her family.”
“Dangerous drugs are causing far too many deaths across our region. Saving lives is our primary goal,” said New York Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget G. Brennan. “This long-term investigation was comprehensive, targeting significant narcotics activity. Collaborative work is critical to long-term progress in reducing overdose deaths.”
“The opioid crisis is an epidemic that destroys families while narcotics traffickers line their pockets,” said Suffolk County Police Commissioner Rodney K. Harrison. “Let these indictments send a message that we are watching. These investigations will impact the narcotics trade from the East End to New York City and are a testament to the successes our law enforcement partnerships have made. I commend all those involved.”
Over the course of the investigation, over 763 grams of Fentanyl and 585 grams of cocaine were allegedly recovered from the illicit sales and possession of Fentanyl and cocaine by the defendants, Tierney said. “This includes sales to individuals and agent buys, as well as narcotics allegedly recovered during search warrants executed at the residences of Telfer and Perkins,” the district attorney said, adding that he is taking action to confiscate the homes where the drugs were sold. “If you sell drugs in Suffolk, we will take your house,” Tierney warned, noting that drug proceeds were allegedly used to pay the mortgages.
In calling for tougher drug laws, Tierney said he is pushing for “Death by Dealer” laws and have Tranq, which is legal to sell in New York, listed as a controlled substance. In response, Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano (R-Medford) is drafting legislation to create penalties for illicit Tranq sales. “We’re constantly pushing the Democrats to give District Attorney Tierney and other prosecutors more weapons to fight the drug scourge that has descended upon our state,” DeStefano said. “‘Death by Dealer’ legislation is on the table and it will soon be joined by a Tranq bill.”
Tranq is a recent addition to the Long Island and New York City illegal drug supply and is used together with Fentanyl to prolong the effects of the opioid, Tierney explained. According to the DEA, Tranq and Fentanyl drug mixtures place users at a higher risk of suffering fatal drug overdoses. Xylazine is only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as a veterinary medicine to sedate and relieve pain in large animals such as horses. In humans, Xylazine is known to depress breathing and heart rate, lower blood pressure, and cause unconsciousness, necrosis, and even death. Because Xylazine is not an opioid, Naloxone (Narcan) does not reverse its effects. However, authorities recommend its use in all OD situations.
DeStefano recently called out Gov. Kathy Hochul and her Democrat colleagues both in Albany and Washington to address the “Fentanyl Elephant in the Room”—the free flow of the poison into the country over the southern border. DeStefano is helping lead a growing number of elected officials and residents in demanding that President Biden “Secure the Border.”
Of the 30 defendants, Tierney said he was only able to hold 10 thanks to the cashless bail laws ushered into New York by the Progressive Democrats. These include three who are charged with weapons offenses, he noted.
Alleged Blood gang member Dushane Telfer, who Tierney said sold the deadly drugs to Michelle Tomitz, faces a top count of Criminal Possession of Controlled Substance in the First Degree with up to 24 years in jail. Telfer is bail eligible and is presently incarcerated on a $1 million cash bail, $2 million insurance company bond, or $3 million partially secured bond, the district attorney reported.
Also allegedly involved in the deadly drug sale was Oshane Perkins, who is charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and is looking at up to 24 years in prison. He is bail eligible and is in jail on a $750,000 cash bail, $1,500,000 million insurance company bond, or $3,000,000 partially secured bond, according to Tierney.
Also rounded up in the drug sweep was suspected Blood member Paris Parks, who is charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and faces up to 20 years of incarceration. Parks is bail eligible and is currently locked up on a $1 million cash bail, $2.5 million insurance company bond, or $10 million partially secured bond.
Operating with the Trinitarios gang, Gabriel Fernandez was busted with a top count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree and could be locked up for 20 years. His bail was set at $750,000 cash, $1,500,000 insurance company bond, or $3,000,000 partially secured bond.
