Tim Sini’s Failure to Act Led to Fatal Overdoses
- Six East End Deaths Linked to DA’s Failure to Act
- Felonious Evidence Uncovered, but Case Left to Stall
- Timeline Shows Multiple Missed Opportunities to Protect Public
- Veteran Narcotics Officers Stunned by Inaction
- DA’s Self-Congratulatory Press Appearances Blasted by Critics
- Sources Deep in LI’s Drug Wars Demoralized by DA Office Leadership
- Three Independent Sources with Intimate Knowledge Spoke on Condition of Anonymity out of Fear of Retribution from DA Tim Sini
Between August 5 and August 13, 2021 on Long Island’s East End, there were nine overdoses and six deaths as a result of drug dealers dishing out a deadly mix of fentanyl with cocaine.
Had the Suffolk County District Attorney (DA) done his job, critics say, the deaths might not have happened.
Were these drug dealers not back on the streets, six people might still be alive.
The investigation was done and over. Smith was caught red-handed and was supposed to go to jail for the rest of his life.
But Tim Sini failed to act.
He’s the one with blood on his hands.
After the deaths, DA Tim Sini held a press conference to congratulate himself – and the police — for the arrest of Justin Smith and Lavain Creighton, charging that they bear responsibility in the six overdose deaths earlier this month.
Omitted from DA Sini’s presentation, however, was any mention of his office’s failures.
Left untold by DA Sini was that in October of last year Smith had been arrested on multiple felony counts for selling illegal drugs, including fentanyl. Despite the work of the police officers who arrested the drug dealer, Sini’s office failed to indict Smith and released him the same day without bail.
What Sini also omitted was that in February 2021 a search warrant was executed at a residence controlled by Smith, where law enforcement officers recovered felony amounts of cocaine, crack cocaine, and fentanyl.
Legal sources note that the number of repeated felony convictions is a critical factor in prosecutions and sentencing under existing New York State Law. Should Smith be indicted and convicted of a third felony, prosecutors could seek a major sentence, up to and including life imprisonment.
A veteran law enforcement office familiar with Long Island’s drug activity and the workings of the District Attorney’s office spoke on condition of anonymity, saying the DA’s approach is flawed.
“When we’ve got enough [evidence], let’s get them off the street,” the officer said of investigating drug dealers. “We have a duty to stop other people from getting hurt.”
A separate source close to the Smith case was adamant.
“The investigation was done and over. Smith was caught red-handed and was supposed to go to jail for the rest of his life,” the source declared. “But Tim Sini failed to act. He’s the one with blood on his hands.”
Attempts to gain comments from the District Attorney’s office were made via email and telephone. There was no return communication by press time.
Dealers Arrested
Members of the District Attorney’s Office’s East End Drug Task Force and Heroin Task Force, the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD), the Southold Town Police Department, the Shelter Island Police Department, joined Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini and other officials to announce the August 18 arrest of two alleged drug dealers in connection with multiple fatal overdoses that occurred on the East End of Long Island in August.
“We continue to investigate the numerous overdoses – both fatal and non-fatal – that have occurred on the East End over the past few weeks,” DA Sini said.
Per a press release from the DA’s office, Lavain Creighton, 51, of Greenport, is charged with six counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony, including the alleged sale of narcotics that caused two fatal overdoses.
Justin Smith, 46, of Smithtown, is charged with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony; Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree, a class A misdemeanor; and two counts of Criminally Using Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor. Smith is also charged with five counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony, and other lesser offenses in connection with a separate investigation.
Smith is also charged with five counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony, and other lesser offenses in connection with a separate investigation.
[Editor’s Note: An accompanying timeline details a series of criminal arrests and allegations against Justin Smith, as well as Lavain Creighton.]
Back on the Streets
Creighton was arraigned on the charges in Southold Town Justice Court and was remanded without bail. Smith was arraigned on the charges in Suffolk County District Court and bail was set at $200,000 cash, $500,000 bond, or $2.5 million partially-secured bond. Both defendants were due back in court this week.
If convicted, Creighton faces a maximum sentence of up to nine years in prison on each count. If convicted, Smith faces up to life in prison due to his status as a discretionary persistent felony offender under New York State law.
Law Enforcement
A number of law enforcement agencies partnered on the investigations and arrests, by all accounts done professionally and successfully. A criminal charge however, is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
And it remains the job of the DA’s office to prosecute and convict.
“[DA] Sini and his crew are interested in ‘big press’…in claiming to take down a big ring. But that means allowing active cases to float out there. He wants to be in front of the cameras,” said the officer, a veteran of Long Island’s drug war.
“Our mindset about the dealers is, if we have the evidence, we should take them down now,” he said. “We have to protect the citizens of Suffolk County, which we do every day.”
Another source within the narcotics operations noted that the Justin Smith case was “left to stall.”
Back in April, 2021, and even before, there was evidence to act upon, “but there was a lack of supervision.” While investigating a subject bringing drugs from New York City out east to Creighton, Southold officers could not get the Task Force or the DA to move on the case, he said.
“Had Tim Sini done his job, six people might still be alive.”
