By Steve Levy
Former Suffolk County Executive and NYS Assemblyman Steve Levy is the co-publisher of Long Island Life & Politics.
(Photo: Body camera footage shows a Suffolk County police officer and a Ronkonkoma Fire Department EMT attempting to revive an 11-month-old who nearly died of a fentanyl overdose. The father and Robert Mauro, who sold the father the drugs, were indicted on April 29. Credit – Hank Russell. Video Courtesy of the Suffolk DA’s Office)
Two men — one from Miller Place and one from Lake Grove — were indicted for their role in which an eleven-month-old child nearly overdosed on fentanyl. In addition, one of the indicted suspects was also indicted on a separate charge in causing the death of a Patchogue woman.
On January 13, members of the Suffolk County Police Department and the Ronkonkoma Fire Department responded to a 911 call reporting a non-responsive infant on Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove. When they arrived, “John Doe,” an 11-month-old infant, had turned blue, his eyes were rolled toward the back of his head, and he was having extreme difficulty breathing. Due to his serious condition, the ambulance that was transporting the boy to the hospital had to pull over during the transit so a MedCat Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) could board the ambulance to provide additional lifesaving care to the infant.
During the press conference on April 29 announcing the indictments, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney showed body camera footage of police officers and EMTs working to revive the child. (Warning: This video is very graphic and is not suitable for younger audiences.)
The child had stopped breathing for an extended period of time on the way to Stony Brook University Hospital and had been unresponsive for approximately 40 minutes. When the medics inside the ambulance determined that the symptoms the child was exhibiting were from opiate poisoning, they quickly acted and provided the baby with a quantity of Narcan in each nostril. Five minutes after the administration of Narcan, he took a full breath on his own and began to cry.
Once at the hospital, the 11-month-old child was diagnosed with acute fentanyl poisoning, hypoxia, and respiratory failure and required additional doses of Narcan in the Pediatric Emergency Room. After his admission to the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, the infant was placed on a Narcan drip in order to prevent recurrent respiratory failure due to the opioid poisoning. The child’s father — who was not named to protect the identity of the child — was arrested on the same day; however, he was released from jail without bail because his charge was considered non-bail eligible under current New York State law, meaning prosecutors could not ask for, and the judges could not set bail.
A search of the Lake Grove residence was conducted by the Suffolk County Police Department, and investigators allegedly recovered a straw containing cocaine, 4-ANPP, heroin, and fentanyl residue, a digital scale containing cocaine, heroin and fentanyl residue, and a plastic bag containing cocaine residue. Tierney said that the father told police that he had no drugs inside the house, but admitted to using cocaine three days before the child was hospitalized.
A review of phone data recovered from John Doe’s father’s phone revealed that on January 4 and January 5, he was allegedly in contact with Mauro where they discussed a sale of narcotics where Robert Mauro allegedly offered to sell narcotics to John Doe’s father. Mauro allegedly knew that the narcotics that he intended to sell John Doe’s father had caused an overdose previously. Over the next few days John Doe’s father actively sought out the drugs from Mauro.
On January 9, Mauro allegedly sold the drug to John Doe’s father, just four days before the infant ingested a near fatal dose of fentanyl.
On January 29, while Suffolk County Police Department Fourth Squad detectives were conducting their investigation into John Doe’s father and Mauro, Homicide Squad detectives responded to a fatal overdose that occurred at a home in Patchogue. At that location, law enforcement recovered from the scene was the 31-year-old victim’s cell phone, and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP.
A review of the victim’s phone data showed that she had purchased narcotics from Mauro on January 26 and January 28. Mauro allegedly told the victim that he would sell her a “non-fenty” mix, meaning narcotics without any fentanyl. An autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office concluded that the female victim’s cause of death was a mixed drug intoxication of acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl, fluro fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methoxyacytal fentanyl, xylazine, and buprenorphine.
On February 20, a search warrant was executed at Mauro’s home in Miller Place. During the execution of the warrant, Mauro allegedly attempted to destroy evidence by throwing a digital scale and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP out of his bedroom window into the snow, but were recovered by law enforcement, as well as suboxone pills and Mauro’s cellphone.
A review of the digital evidence recovered from Mauro’s phone allegedly showed that he communicated with the victim on the day that she overdosed. Also, in a separate text communication with another person, Mauro allegedly described how strong his drugs were when he ingested them, causing him to be “knocked out” for hours.
“It is heartbreaking to see a defenseless and innocent child become yet another casualty of a deadly illegal drug,” Tierney said. “What is more outrageous is that the child’s father is alleged to have placed his own son in close proximity to such poison. Then, two weeks after that baby nearly died from ingesting fentanyl, the same dealer is alleged to have sold the same to a Patchogue woman who was not as fortunate as the child and lost her life. Senseless and tragic results such as these will continue to occur in our communities until the [New York State] legislature enacts real drug reform.”
To read more from Steve Levy, visit lilifepolitics.com
