Ronkonkoma man charged with selling counterfeit opioid pills with fentanyl, feds say

Federal prosecutors in Central Islip on Thursday unsealed an indictment charging a Ronkonkoma man with selling more than 700 counterfeit pills laced with the synthetic opioid fentanyl.

Fernando “Pablo” Cooper, 21, was charged with one count of conspiring to distribute and possessing with intent to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl and faces five to 40 years in prison, according to a release from the office of United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace. 

In a statement, Peace said that Cooper allegedly “manipulatively sold and marketed counterfeit opioid pills laced with fentanyl, a dangerous narcotic that is responsible for many deaths in Suffolk County.”

Cooper was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday in federal court before Judge Arlene Lindsay. A representative for Peace's office could not be reached and a lawyer representing Cooper on charges in Suffolk First District Court, Jonathan Brian Manley, declined to comment. 

According to the release from Peace’s office, between December 2021 and July 2022, Cooper sold more than 500 counterfeit opioid pills containing fentanyl that were made to resemble Percocet and oxycodone pills. In July, he allegedly sold 223 counterfeit pills and was found holding another 119.

Authorities said they recovered those pills after Cooper fled police during a traffic stop and hid in a Central Islip backyard. Cellphones that authorities seized from Cooper under a search warrant revealed that he belonged to a street gang called the Hit Squad, the release said. 

In a letter from Peace’s office to Lindsay asking for Cooper to be detained until trial, prosecutors said that Cooper was out on bail for a criminal possession of a controlled substance charge at the time of the July 2022 Central Islip traffic stop. In addition to the pills, police found a digital scale, nearly $5,000 in cash and two iPhones, one of which had a case with Cooper’s photograph. 

According to the letter, the phones held text messages between Cooper and others about selling pills, buying and selling guns and a dispute between Hit Street and rivals that has resulted in “numerous” shootings in Suffolk County. The phones also had photographs of pills similar to those that had been seized from Cooper.