Suffolk fentanyl case shows how our opioid disaster persists
Family members of victims leave court after the sentencing of Marquis Douglas, who pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl-laced cocaine which resulted in the overdose deaths of four people on the East End in 2021. Credit: John Roca
This week Marquis Douglas of Riverhead was sentenced under a plea deal to 25 years in federal prison for selling fentanyl-laced cocaine that killed four people in Suffolk County on the same day in 2021.
Those killed were Swainson Brown, of Shelter Island; Matthew LaPiana, of East Marion; Seth Tramontana, of Greenport, and Navid Ahmadzadeh, of Southold. Family members reacted with strong and understandable emotion, some calling the punishment too lenient. It is.
“The amount of drugs he’s distributed over his life is chilling,” said U.S. District Judge Joanna Seybert, who added that the 25 years plus 5 years of supervised release that was agreed upon between federal prosecutors and defense lawyers was below federal sentencing guidelines “and anything that was reasonable . . . He might be out in 20 years with good behavior.”
The backdrop to this case is well known. Illegal, frequently fatal narcotics trafficking has deeply damaged communities across America. Stepped-up enforcement and more punitive laws and prison sentences might help. The ingredients for the smuggled drug are made in China and then synthesized in Mexico. Moving the final product over the southern border is one sliver of the overall problem.
As long as demand is widespread, criminal distribution will be profitable. The fentanyl scourge grew out of the prescription-opioid horror. Fentanyl became commonly laced into other narcotics. People who want or need the feel-good poison are likely to find it from one predatory seller or another.
On Long Island, the rate of overdose deaths from opioids, including fentanyl, has reportedly dropped since the COVID-19 pandemic. In Suffolk 320 opioid-related fatalities were recorded in 2023 compared with 462 in 2021. The rate per 100,000 in the county declined from above to below the statewide rate.
One hopes this is the limited result of widespread naloxone distribution for overdoses, prevention programs and better access to addiction treatments. But nobody can say if the downturn on the Island suggests a corner is turned.
Test strips are a way for drug users to see if their purchased fixes contain fentanyl, which is particularly dangerous — 50 times more potent than heroin and 100 times more potent than morphine. Fentanyl test strips should be made as widely available as possible, not so users wrongly feel “safe” pursuing their addictions but so they can live through the day.
More than 40% of Americans know someone who has died of a drug overdose, RAND Corp. research found. And earlier this year, Families in Support of Treatment, and Gabriel’s Giving Tree started a grief support group on Long Island that meets in Hauppauge for family members whose lives were ravaged by overdose deaths.
“The death of a child is devastating beyond words,” its organizers said in a statement, “and it can also have the added burden, for many, of shame and blame.”
We should all resist casting social stigmas and guilt. Our addiction catastrophe still needs multiple, urgent solutions.
MEMBERS OF THE EDITORIAL BOARD are experienced journalists who offer reasoned opinions, based on facts, to encourage informed debate about the issues facing our community.
