Jail guard charged with drug offense, DA says

A Nassau County correction officer has been fired after getting arrested on a felony drug charge, authorities said Tuesday.

Daniel Lanigan Jr., 29, of Levittown, is charged with one felony count and one misdemeanor count of criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Authorities said the arrest was the result of a long-term probe. They allege in part that Lanigan possessed amphetamines with the intent to sell them.

"We deny the charges in there and we will fight them vigorously," Lanigan's lawyer, Michael Annibale of Garden City, said Tuesday after his client's arraignment in Hempstead.

District Court Judge Scott Siller released Lanigan on his own recognizance, and the defendant ignored a request for comment while leaving court with family members.

On Monday, investigators arrested Lanigan after finding him with a pill bottle containing 10 capsules of what they believe to be the amphetamine Adderall, according to court records. They also saw him take part in a drug-related transaction on Division Avenue in Levittown, according to the district attorney's office.

"She just sold me Adderalls," Lanigan allegedly told an investigator.

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Prosecutors said the alleged drug buy happened less than two hours before Lanigan was to report to his job at the Nassau County jail, where he's worked since 2009.

Capt. Michael Golio of the Nassau County Sheriff's Department said Tuesday that Lanigan had been fired and that his agency would continue to cooperate with the district attorney's office on the case.

"The public has a right to expect that employees put in positions of authority and paid with their tax dollars do not put themselves above the law," District Attorney Kathleen Rice said in a prepared statement.

Nassau County Sheriff's Correction Officers Benevolent Association president John Jaronczyk said in a separate statement that the union doesn't condone illegal activity, but will make sure Lanigan's rights are protected.