LI Man Sentenced To Prison On Drug, Arson Charges: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY - An East Islip man was sentenced to 18 years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring to possess and distribute cocaine and committing an arson, according to the U.S. attorney.

Matthew Aichroth, 35, was sentenced by United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley and was also ordered to forfeit $3.4 million as proceeds of the cocaine trafficking conspiracy, the U.S. attorney said.

Aichroth pleaded guilty to the charges in July 2017.

Between February 2015 and September 2016, Aichroth engaged in a bi-coastal cocaine trafficking conspiracy, the U.S attorney said.

"This sentencing summarizes the gravity of Aichroth’s crimes," DEA Special Agent-in-Charge James Hunt said. "By heading a bi-coastal drug trafficking operation, Aichroth pushed product into Long Island communities and users’ hands."

As part of the investigation, law enforcement officers tracked Aichroth and his associates from Long Island to California and discovered a rental car that Aichroth used being loaded onto a car carrier in Downey, California, according to officials.

The officers tracked that car to a shipping lot in New Jersey, where they saw Aichroth retrieve a duffle bag containing more than 10 kilograms of cocaine from the car, the U.S. attorney said.

The cocaine was then transported by a co-conspirator to a home in Islip where it was seized by law enforcement, officials say.

During the execution of a search warrant at the Islip location, law enforcement recovered seven firearms, ammunition, drug packaging material, numerous pills and a total of 200 grams of cocaine, the U.S. attorney said.

In addition, a search of an apartment that Aichroth used in California yielded 234 grams of cocaine, a 9-millimeter pistol and ammunition, officials said.

During the conspiracy, Aichroth set fire to a car parked in front of the home of an associate to try to intimidate and prevent him from cooperating with law enforcement, the U.S. attorney said.

The fire also caused extensive damage to the associate’s home, the U.S. attorney said.

"Aichroth used arson, guns and threats of violence to perpetrate his crimes while he poured dangerous drugs into our communities," U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue said. "Thanks to the outstanding work of our prosecutors and law enforcement partners, it’s his freedom and future that have now gone up in flames."

Images courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York

Main image via Shutterstock