Central Islip Dealer Gets 18 Years For Drug Sale That Caused Fatal Overdose: DA

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — A Central Islip man was sentenced this week to 18 years in state prison for selling narcotics that prosecutors say led to the fatal overdose of a 25-year-old Brentwood man, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.

Jeffrey Sloan, 62, of Central Islip, was sentenced Wednesday after pleading guilty in October to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said.

According to court documents and Sloan’s statements during his guilty plea, members of the Suffolk County Police Department responded to a residence in Brentwood on Feb. 6, 2025, following a report of a fatal drug overdose.

At the scene, police recovered nine glassine envelopes containing residue from a mixture of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and ketamine, prosecutors said. A Xanax pill and the victim’s cellphone were also recovered.

A review of the victim’s phone revealed text messages between the victim and Sloan, prosecutors said. The messages showed the victim ordered 13 bags of heroin and one Xanax pill from Sloan for $140, and the two arranged to meet on Feb. 4, 2025, at a 7-Eleven on Crooked Hill Road in Brentwood.

Investigators obtained surveillance footage from the convenience store that showed the victim using an ATM to withdraw cash. The video then depicts Sloan arriving at the location and engaging in what appeared to be a hand-to-hand narcotics transaction with the victim, Tierney said.

An autopsy performed by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office found fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine, morphine, and fentanyl analogues in the victim’s system. The cause of death was ruled a mixed drug intoxication, prosecutors said.

On Feb. 19, 2025, police executed court-authorized search warrants at Sloan’s residence, camper, and three vehicles, the DA’s office said.

During the searches, investigators recovered more than 16 ounces of a fentanyl-heroin mixture, more than half an ounce of cocaine, and more than 100 pills, including Xanax and oxycodone. Authorities also seized multiple cellphones, a ledger detailing narcotics transactions, and drug paraphernalia, including digital scales, glassine envelopes, cutting agents, gloves, and masks.

Additional substances were found in Sloan’s camper, including mixtures containing heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine, and medetomidine, prosecutors said.

Medetomidine is legally used in New York State to tranquilize large animals, such as rhinoceroses, but prosecutors said it is increasingly being used by drug dealers as a powerful adulterant in the illicit drug supply. The substance is alleged to be approximately 100 times more potent than xylazine and has begun replacing xylazine in New York City’s drug market.

On Oct. 22, 2025, Sloan pleaded guilty before Acting Supreme Court Justice Richard Horowitz to one count of first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, a Class A-I felony, and one count of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, a Class B felony.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, Sloan was sentenced to 18 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision, Tierney said. He was represented by defense attorney Adeline Arvelo, who could not immediately respond to a request for comment.

“The 18-year sentence handed down today stands as a hard-won affirmation of justice and the relentless work that brought this case to the finish line,” Ray Tierney said. “Investigators methodically uncovered every link in the chain that led to a needless death, and the court answered with the weight the facts demanded. It’s a clear signal that this community will not look the other way when someone chooses profit over a human life.”