Holbrook man accused of selling fentanyl in overdose denies guilt
A Holbrook man pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he sold fentanyl leading to the fatal overdose of a Lake Grove woman.
A Suffolk County grand jury indicted Jaquan Casserly, 34, on three counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance, three counts of possession of a controlled substance, felony criminal possession of a weapon and two counts of misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said Friday.
Casserly’s attorney Christopher M. Gioe said later Friday, “We are currently conducting a thorough investigation and intend to vigorously contest these allegations.”
Prosecutors said Suffolk County police were called to a drug overdose Aug. 18 at a house in Lake Grove. An unidentified woman was found unconscious by her mother and the woman was given Narcan to reverse the effects of fentanyl and regain her pulse. She died days later at Stony Brook University Hospital.
According to prosecutors, the woman’s parents turned over her cellphone to police, and an undercover detective used the phone to arrange a drug buy with Casserly. Police said he was unaware of her condition and directed the undercover detective to the Holbrook Commons shopping center, where he sold the fentanyl a week earlier.
Police said Casserly sold the undercover detective heroin and fentanyl in a red envelope Aug. 25 at Holbrook Commons.
Police served a search warrant two days later where officers seized heroin, fentanyl, a digital scale and the same envelopes sold to the woman who died and the undercover officer. Police also took a pair of brass knuckles and Casserly’s cellphone, which showed he had made plans to meet the woman to sell her a “fetty mix” of heroin and fentanyl.
“Sadly, this is yet another example of an alleged drug dealer pushing poison onto our streets without any regard for the inevitably destructive and deadly consequences of such sales,” Tierney said.
Suffolk County Judge Steven A. Pilewski ordered Casserly held on $500,000 cash, $1 million bond or $5 million partially secured bond.
John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.
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