Man Admits To Causing Fatal Overdose; Nearly Causing Baby's Death: DA
SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY —A Miller Place man admitted to selling fentanyl that caused a woman to fatally overdose, as well as to his co-defendant, whose son suffered serious physical injuries from fentanyl poisoning in January 2024, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Friday.Robert Mauro, 40, pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter in connection with the death of a 31-year-old Patchogue woman, the DA said. He also pleaded guilty to criminal sale of a controlled substance for selling fentanyl to his co-defendant James Carr, of Lake Grove, whose infant nearly died of an overdose, Tierney said."This defendant pled to manslaughter after selling fentanyl that was so potent, it caused the fatal overdose of a 31-year-old woman and the near-fatal overdose of an infant," Tierney said in a news release. "However, this case is an anomaly in the sense that law enforcement in New York cannot typically charge drug dealers with manslaughter. When it comes to addressing the devastating impact of drug overdoses, prosecutors can only work within the framework of the laws as they currently stand. It is therefore imperative that that we pass a 'Death by Dealer' statute to ensure that we are holding all drug dealers accountable for their actions when a death occurs, not just in limited circumstances."Suffolk police and Ronkonkoma firefighters responded to a 911 call reporting a non-responsive infant on Colmar Avenue in Lake Grove on Jan. 13, authorities said. They found 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, officials said. The ambulance transporting the boy to the hospital had to pull over during transit so a MedCat emergency medical technician could board the ambulance to provide additional lifesaving care to the infant, the DA said.The child had stopped breathing for an extended period of time on the way to Stony Brook University Hospital and had been unresponsive for about 40 minutes, prosecutors previously said.The medics in the ambulance determined the child was suffering opiate poisoning and gave the baby Narcan in each nostril, officials said. Five minutes later, he took a full breath on his own and began crying, officials said.The 11-month-old child was diagnosed at the hospital with acute fentanyl poisoning, hypoxia and respiratory failure, the DA said. He needed additional Narcan doses in the pediatric emergency room, authorities said. After his admission to the pediatric intensive care unit, the infant was placed on a Narcan drip in order to prevent recurrent respiratory failure because of the opioid poisoning, prosecutors said.Carr, the child’s father, was charged with second-degree assault, endangering the welfare of a child, and seventh-degree criminal possession of a weapon. Carr’s charges are still pending.Police searched the Lake Grove home and found a straw containing cocaine, 4-ANPP, heroin, and fentanyl residue, as well as a digital scale containing cocaine, heroin and fentanyl residue, and a plastic bag containing cocaine residue, investigators said.A review of phone data recovered from Carr's phone revealed that on Jan. 4 and Jan. 5, he was in contact with Mauro; Mauro offered to sell narcotics to the infant's father, prosecutors said. Mauro knew the narcotics that he offered to sell to Carr were so strong that they had causedan overdose of an unidentified individual, officials said. On Jan. 9, Mauro met with Carr in MillerPlace and sold Carr a negotiated amount of fentanyl, authorities said.On Jan. 29, while Suffolk police detectives were investigating the infant's father and Mauro, homicide squad detectives were called to a fatal overdose that happened at a home in Patchogue, prosecutors said.Law enforcement recovered a 31-year-old woman's cell phone and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP, investigators said. Fentanyl/4-ANPP is a precursor, or chemical, found in fentanyl mixes, the DA said.A review of the woman's phone data showed she had purchased narcotics from Mauro on Jan. 28, the DA said.On Jan. 26, the woman had texted Mauro that she had not used heroin in over a year and was concerned about the substance she was going to buy, investigators said.She texted, "I’m not trying to drop dead" and asked, "Is it really strong? Should I be concerned?" the DA said. Mauro responded with "lol u will b fine" and that he would sell her a "non-fenty" mix, meaning narcotics without any fentanyl, prosecutors said. That same day, Mauro told an unidentified purchaser that his product was so strong that it put him out for a couple of hours, officials said.An autopsy of the woman found her cause of death was a mixed drug intoxication of acute intoxication because of the combined effects of fentanyl, fluro fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, methoxyacytal fentanyl, xylazine, and buprenorphine, prosecutors said.Xylazine, also known as "Tranq," is a powerful sedative, commonly used by veterinarians totranquilize large livestock, and is increasingly used by drug dealers as a "cutting agent" to increase their profits on their sale of drugs, the DA said. Xylazine is still currently legal to possess and sell in New York state despite legislative efforts by Tierney to ban it, his office stated.On Feb. 20, a search warrant was executed at Mauro’s home in Miller Place, the DA said. During the execution of the warrant, Mauro was accused of trying to destroy evidence by throwing a digital scale and a quantity of fentanyl/4-ANPP out of his bedroom window into the snow, but the evidence was recovered by law enforcement, authorities said. They also found suboxone pills and Mauro’s cellphone, the DA said.A review of the digital evidence recovered from Mauro’s phone showed that he was aware of howdeadly his narcotics were, authorities said. He told one contact that he was afraid to use it alone, texting "I have Narcan but I’m alone so I gotta wait and see wut these kids say," investigators said. On Jan. 26, the same day he reassured the Patchogue woman before her fatal overdose, he had a separate conversation with an unidentified purchaser where Mauro mentioned how potent the drug was after he tried it, officials said.Muaro pleaded guilty on Thursday. He is expected to be sentenced to the maximum indeterminate period of five to fifteen years upstate incarceration on the first offense, and a concurrent period of seven years determinate upstate incarceration on the second, to be followed by a period of two years post-release supervision.Mauro is due back in court for sentencing on Dec. 10. He is being represented by Matthew Tuohy.The article Man Admits To Causing Fatal Overdose; Nearly Causing Baby's Death: DA appeared first on Smithtown, NY Patch.
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