Bay Shore Dealer Gets 8.5 Years In Prison For Fatal Overdose: DA

BAY SHORE, NY — A Bay Shore man pleaded guilty and was immediately sentenced to 8.5 years in prison on Tuesday, for selling cocaine laced with fentanyl that resulted in a fatal overdose, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced

Joseph Pittman, 44, also known as “Tank,” of Bay Shore, pleaded guilty in court to six counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, and one count of tampering with evidence, before Supreme Court Justice, the Honorable Richard I. Horowitz.

He was also sentenced to three years of post-release supervision.

On Aug. 8, 2022, Suffolk County Police Department officers responded to a reported fatal overdose at 53-year-old Paul Champlin’s residence in Great River. Champlin was discovered by a friend in his bedroom, according to court documents and the defendant’s statements during his plea allocution.

As a result of a preliminary investigation, a white powder and a pocketknife with powder residue, which appeared to be cocaine, were recovered from Champlin’s bedroom, prosecutors said.

Champlin's cell phone was also recovered.

The powder was then taken to the Suffolk County Crime Laboratory, which confirmed it was a mixture of cocaine and fentanyl. Champlin's autopsy later revealed that he had died as a result of an Acute Mixed Drug Intoxication of Cocaine and fentanyl, prosecutors said.

A review of the Champlin's phone data revealed that he and Pittman engaged in a narcotics
transaction on Aug. 6, 2022, just prior to midnight.

An undercover detective from the Suffolk County Police Department was able to contact Pittman on that same phone number and arrange for the sale of narcotics on numerous occasions, prosecutors said.

On three dates, Pittman instructed the undercover detective to go to the same location where he sold cocaine laced with fentanyl to Champlin on Aug. 6, 2022.

Pittman sold the undercover detective cocaine laced with fentanyl on two of the transactions, prosecutors said.

On Dec. 12, 2022, a search warrant was executed at Pittman’s First Avenue residence in Bay Shore, where police recovered cocaine, fentanyl, two digital scales and his cellular telephone.

Pittman was also observed by police attempting to destroy and discard his narcotics out of the bathroom window into a pile of snow — while the warrant was being executed, prosecutors said.

After he was arrested, Pittman acknowledged that he knew Champlin and that he did not "do dope," a street term for heroin and/or fentanyl, prosecutors said.

Pittman has 27 prior convictions, five of which were felony convictions, officials said.

"This defendant’s criminal history dates back more than 25 years. He is a recidivist criminal who
turned a profit by peddling deadly fentanyl, resulting in the death of Mr. Champlin," said Tierney. "This case is a prime example of why we need the legislature to pass a Death by Dealer statute. In New York, there is currently no additional penalty for fentanyl dealers who cause deaths by selling this lethal poison. That is unconscionable and needs to change."

At the time he sold to Champlin and the undercover detective, he was on parole for third-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, prosecutors said.

During the plea, Pittman admitted that he sold the victim a combination of cocaine and fentanyl,
that he committed the crime of criminal sale of a controlled substance on five subsequent
occasions, and that on two of those sales, he knew he sold a combination of cocaine and fentanyl, prosecutors said.