A Selden man has been indicted for allegedly selling pressed fentanyl pills to a man from Bohemia that resulted in his fatal overdose.
“This case is a stark reminder of the deadly deception behind counterfeit pills on our streets,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney. “We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who allegedly peddle these poison pills that are destroying families and communities across Suffolk County.”
On January 4, just after 5 a.m., Suffolk County police responded to a residence in Bohemia for an apparent drug overdose. The victim had been found unresponsive in his bedroom by his mother, who then called 911. The 29- year-old victim was pronounced dead at the scene.
Recovered from the victim’s bedroom, on a table next to where the body was found, were three small blue pills and a fragment of an additional small blue pill. The pills were recovered by members of the Suffolk County Police Department (SCPD) and sent to the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory for testing. The results of that testing indicated that those pills contained fentanyl.
SCPD officers recovered a cell phone belonging to the victim. A review of the phone revealed both text messages and messages via the app Telegram, between the victim and an individual using the account name “Elvis Rosales.” The messages between the victim and Rosales allegedly revealed that, between January 3 and January 4, Rosales allegedly agreed to sell the victim $50 worth of “perks,” a street term used to describe Percocet pills. Rosales allegedly directed the victim to meet him at the Super 8 Motel in Lindenhurst. In the early morning hours of January 4, Rosales allegedly informed the victim that he was “bagging the 5 rn” (meaning, packaging the pills), and the victim ultimately responded “here.”
Video surveillance obtained from the motel allegedly revealed the two men briefly meeting at approximately 3:19 a.m. on January 4. The victim was discovered a few hours later, unresponsive and slumped over a chair, by this mother.
On January 7, Rosales was arrested at the New York State Division of Parole. Rosales was allegedly found to bein possession of a cell phone. When the police dialed the same number the victim had been communicating with Rosales in a series of messages before the victim’s death, the cell phone in Rosales’ possession rang.
On January 21, Rosales, 27, was arraigned on the indictment before Acting Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas for one count of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and one Count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, both Class B felonies.
Goglas ordered Rosales held on $500,000 cash, $1,000,000 bond or $2,500,000 partially secured bond during the pendency of the case. Rosales is due back in court on February 25 and faces up to 12 years in prison if convicted on the top count.