Says Current DA Had Numerous Opportunities to Indict Him for Felony Drug Possession, But Failed to Do So

Last week, Suffolk District Attorney Tim Sini held a press conference to congratulate himself for the arrest of Justin Smith and claimed that Mr. Smith bears responsibility in the overdose deaths that occurred in the east end of Long Island between August 5 and August 13, 2021. According to reports, in total, there were nine overdoses and six deaths as a result of drug dealers mixing fentanyl with cocaine. 

https://www.newsday.com/long-island/crime/drugs-fatal-overdoses-suffolk-county-1.50338336

While Mr. Smith certainly bears criminal responsibility, Mr. Sini, as usual, omitted numerous facts from his press conference that prove that, if Mr. Sini was doing his job, these tragic deaths would never have occurred.  This is what really happened:

ACTUAL TIMELINE:

• Justin K. Smith was first arrested in 1995. Ray Tierney prosecuted Mr. Smith. Mr. Smith pleaded guilty to the robbery and remained in jail for 12 years, getting paroled in May of 2007.
• In November 2007, Mr. Smith was once again arrested and charged with felony possession of narcotics with intent to sell. Once again, he pleaded guilty and received a sentence of three years’ incarceration. (This second felony conviction is important because it makes Mr. Smith a second felony offender under existing New York state law.  This means that, if Mr. Smith is convicted of a third felony, the prosecutor can seek a very heavy sentence, up to and including a sentence of life imprisonment.)
• In October 2020, the East End Drug Task Force was able to make four separate felony drug buys involving Mr. Smith. Any one of these drug buys, if indicted by the District Attorney, would have been enough to charge Smith with a felony and he would be looking at life imprisonment. The District Attorney did not indict Mr. Smith on the prior drug sales.
• In February 2021, a full six months before those six victims on the east end lost their lives, the District Attorney executed a search warrant at a residence controlled by Mr. Smith and recovered felony amounts of cocaine, crack cocaine and fentanyl. Again, the District Attorney did not indict the case.

**A drug dealer mixes fentanyl with drugs such as crack and powdered cocaine. Cocaine is expensive. Drug dealers will buy cocaine and look to increase their profits by adding non-narcotic fillers to the cocaine, such as mannitol and baby powder, so they can sell more of it. Of course, stretching out the cocaine in this manner makes it less potent, so the drug dealers will add the relatively cheap fentanyl to the mixture to fool their customers into thinking they are not getting ripped off. Fentanyl is a powerful end-of-life narcotic that is highly addictive and very dangerous. In fact, it is so dangerous that it is usually only prescribed to terminally ill patients. One slight misstep in the mixture could lead to a string of overdoses, which is exactly what happened on the east end six months later in August.

Last week, DA Tim Sini held a self-congratulatory press conference to announce the arrest of Justin K. Smith (and a co-defendant) in the case of six fatal overdoses on Long Island’s East End.

He failed to mention that, in October 2020, Mr. Smith had been arrested on multiple felony counts for selling drugs, including fentanyl.  Mr. Sini’s office failed to indict him and released him the same day without bail.

Again, in February 2021, they executed a search warrant at a residence controlled by Mr. Smith, recovering felony amounts of cocaine, crack cocaine and fentanyl.  “Mr. Sini’s office failed again to indict Mr. Smith and he was released,” said Ray Tierney, Republican and Conservative candidate for Suffolk County District Attorney.  “The senseless loss of six lives was the result of DA Tim Sini’s incompetence.  Mr. Smith should have been in prison and not on the streets. I am setting the record straight today because Mr. Sini routinely omits key facts during press conferences and doesn’t take questions.”

Mr. Tierney added: “My heart goes out to the families of the victims.  The influence of drugs attacks our children and our communities.  It’s one thing to hold press conferences to announce arrests, but it’s an entirely another thing to do the job you’ve been elected to do as District Attorney.  It’s style over substance, and Suffolk residents continue to pay the price.”

For more information, visit www.raytierneyforda.com.

###

Ray Tierney, Republican and Conservative candidate for Suffolk County District Attorney, is available to speak on the arrests of two drug dealers in connection with nine overdoses in the towns of Southold and Shelter Island. The victims overdosed on cocaine laced with fentanyl, resulting in six deaths.

“Mr. Sini is celebrating the arrests of two street-level drug dealers related to the overdose deaths of six individuals, but, once again, he is reacting to a mass tragedy rather than working to prevent one,” Mr. Tierney said. “Of course, our DA will not discuss the flood of fentanyl coming through our unprotected Southern border and directly to our streets, which is responsible for this tragedy in the first place. The DA’s drug enforcement policy is a tremendous failure, as evidenced by the number of opioid overdoses, which continue to spiral out of control. Instead of reacting to tragedy by arresting street-level dealers, he should follow the evidence to the kingpins who are making a fortune off poisoning our citizens by importing massive amounts of dangerous drugs into our county. Until that happens, tragedies like this will continue to occur. As an experienced prosecutor, I took down major narcotics traffickers, including the boss of the notorious Colombian Norte del Valle drug cartel, who alone was responsible for importing over 80 tons of cocaine into the United States. As DA, I will spearhead the investigations, prosecutions and convictions of all those kingpins responsible for bringing these dangerous drugs into our communities, no matter where they operate. Unfortunately, until that happens, the carnage will continue. No amount of new legislation can counteract the ill effects of an incompetent and ineffective District Attorney.”

For more information, visit www.raytierneyforda.com.

###