Superintendent Sold Heroin That Caused Overdose Death: Prosecutor

EAST VILLAGE, NY — An East Village superintendent sold the fatal packet of heroin that caused his tenant to overdose in November, prosecutors alleged in new court documents.

Daniel Jones, the superintendent of a building near First Avenue and 12th Street, was arrested on Tuesday thanks to his side job as drug dealer, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

Jones, 53, sold Robert Martin Hill his last bag of heroin before Hill overdosed last year, according to police and U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan. Hill was found unconscious by his wife in their apartment on Nov. 18, and remained hospitalized in a coma before dying a week later, according to authorities. A medical examiner determined that he died from a lethal dose of opioids, authorities said. He was 54.

When Hill's wife found him unconscious, she also discovered four glassine bags in his pockets, all stamped with the word "gorilla" and a picture of a gorilla, prosecutors said. NYPD investigators, who began probing Hill's death, determined that the bags contained residue amounts of heroin.

Police found their way to Jones, Hill's superintendent, by searching the calls on Hill's cellphone, where they found that Hill had called Jones at least six times on the day before his overdose. From June until Hill's overdose, Hill and Jones called each other at least once a day, according to an affidavit from an NYPD detective who investigated the case. Investigators confirmed that Hill was communicating with Jones in part thanks to a poster in Hill's apartment building that included Jones' name and cell phone number for tenants to call should they have any issues with the building's heating system.

After linking Hill's supply of drugs to Jones, an undercover NYPD officer bought heroin from Jones on two separate occasions in March. During the second transaction, the undercover officer wore a hidden camera and recorded his conversation with Jones, who confirmed that he had sold heroin with the "gorilla" brand to Hill.

Jones was charged with distribution and possession with intent to distribute heroin, and with conspiring to distribute heroin. He faces spending the rest of his life in prison if convicted. Patch was not immediately able to locate a defense attorney for Jones on Wednesday.

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