2 Drug Dealers Sentenced After Selling Fentanyl That Caused Deaths: Suffolk DA

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — Two men were sentenced to prison after they sold fentanyl that caused two Suffolk County women to suffer overdose deaths, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Thursday.

Qhamel Dickerson, 28, of Huntington Station, and Rashied Smith, 41, of Central Islip, both pleaded guilty to selling fentanyl.

"The fentanyl epidemic has claimed the lives of two more innocent women, and the unfortunate reality is that this problem will continue to worsen without action," Tierney said in a news release. "The dangers of fentanyl are not breaking news anymore. Not in Suffolk County, not in Albany, and not to the drug dealers who continue to push this poison into our communities. Cheap manufacturing and lethally high potency have exposed the legislative gaps that hinder law enforcement's ability to effectively manage the situation. That is why I will continue to push for a death by dealer statute. We owe it to the victims and their families to hold all dealers of fentanyl accountable for the deaths they cause."

Suffolk police were called to East Northport on July 5, 2022, for a 23-year-old woman's fatal overdose, court documents say.

The woman's cell phone, found at the scene, had text messages between her and Dickerson where Dickerson agreed to sell her illicit pills, prosecutors said. Dickerson met the woman on July 4, 2022, and sold her counterfeit pills that bore the color, shape, and markings of oxycodone, but contained fentanyl instead, the DA said.

Dickerson used the same phone in August 2022 to communicate with an undercover Suffolk police detective, where Dickerson agreed to sell the undercover detective the same type of pills he sold to the woman who overdosed, officials said. Dickerson met with the undercover cop in Suffolk and sold them counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl, authorities said. Dickerson was arrested on Sept. 1, 2022.

Dickerson pleaded guilty on March 10 to two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. He faced up to nine years in prison at his sentencing. On April 18, Anthony S. Senft, Jr. sentenced Dickerson to five years in prison followed by two years of post-release supervision. Tierney's Office had requested an eight-year prison sentence. Dickerson was represented by Scott Zerner.

Suffolk police were called to a Mastic home on June 23, 2022, where they found a 43-year-old women fatally overdosed, officials said. Her death was separate from the East Northport case, the DA said.

The woman's cell phone had text messages between her and Smith from the night before she died, prosecutors said. In those texts, Smith agreed to sell the woman crack cocaine and fentanyl, officials said. Smith and the woman met in Central Islip, where he sold her the dugs, investigators said.

Within 48 hours of the woman's death, Smith sold crack cocaine to an undercover Suffolk police detective, authorities said. Smith sold more crack cocaine and fentanyl to the undercover detective a couple of days later, prosecutors said.

Police searched Smith's home and found the cell phone he used to negotiate the sales of crack cocaine and fentanyl with both the woman and the undercover detective, the DA said. Officers also found an illegal loaded Taurus semi-automatic firearm, crack cocaine, and a digital scale for weighing narcotics, Tierney said. Smith was arrested on June 29, 2022.

Smith pleaded guilty on April 7 to two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and one count of second-degree criminal possession of a weapon. He faced up to 12 years in prison at sentencing. Judge Richard Ambro sentenced Smith to seven years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision. The DA's Office requested a 10-year prison sentence. Smith was represented by Lonnie Hart, Jr.

Before Smith's conviction in the fentanyl case, he had multiple prior convictions related to drug possession, including two separate convictions for fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in both 2016 and 2019, as well as a felony conviction for violating the sex offender registry requirement as a second offense in 2013, Tierney said.