Long Island Drug Dealer Admits Selling Fentanyl That Killed 2 Men: Feds

GLEN COVE, NY — A drug dealer admitted to selling a lethal batch of fentanyl to two men who suffered fatal overdoses at their Long Island homes within the last two years, the U.S. Attorney's office said Friday.

Devon Thurmond, 23, of Glen Cove, pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute fentanyl from 2021 through 2023 and to the distribution of fentanyl in April 2021 that ultimately caused the overdose death of a Glen Cove man, according to prosecutors.

As part of his plea, Thurmond admitted he conspired with his codefendant, Cartier Funderburke, 24, of Glen Cove, to sell fake oxycodone pills that contained fentanyl and around April 29, 2021, sold fake oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to the Glen Cove man, prosecutors said.

Thurmond also admitted that while he was incarcerated on an unrelated state charge, he caused fake oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to be distributed by codefendant, Melissa Trimarchi, 37, of Glen Cove, ultimately leading to the fatal overdose death of another man in Locust Valley
on Jan. 9, 2023, according to prosecutors.

Both Funderburke and Trimarchi previously pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing, prosecutors said.

When sentenced, Thurmond faces up to 40 years’ imprisonment, according to prosecutors.

Thurmond's attorney, Murray Singer of Port Washington, declined comment.

Breon Peace, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Thurmond’s conspiracy and sale of fentanyl disguised as prescription pain pills directly led to the poisoning deaths of two Long Island residents."

"My office and our law enforcement partners will continue to prosecute traffickers for their callous disregard for human life in pushing deadly drugs and contributing to the alarming opioid epidemic that has continued to harm this District," he said.

Frank Tarentino, special agent-in-charge of the New York Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration, called fentanyl "the greatest threat to our nation."

"The men and women of DEA New York Division continue to do everything we can, along with our law enforcement partners, to target those responsible for poisoning and destroying our communities," he said. “While this guilty plea doesn’t bring back the lives lost, it sends a message that we will do everything we can to make sure those responsible face the consequences.”

Glen Cove Police Department Chief William Whitton said his department will continue to collaborate with the DEA and the U.S. Department of Justice "to identify, arrest, and prosecute those who believe they can profit from selling lethal drugs in our community."

Trimarchi to sell fentanyl disguised as oxycodone pain pills and sold such pills to the two victims, according to prosecutors.

Investigators found that on April 29, 2021, a 34-year-old man died of a drug-related overdose at his home in Glen Cove, and cellular telephone analysis and additional investigation, showed that the fentanyl the person used was purchased from Thurmond and Funderburke earlier that same day and that Thurmond personally delivered the drugs to the man, prosecutors said.

On Jan. 9, 2023, a 27-year-old man died of a drug-related overdose at his home in Locust Valley, and a search of his phone found text messages between Trimarchi and him that related to his purchase of fentanyl in the form of a single fake oxycodone pill in the hours before his overdose death, according to prosecutors.

In recorded jail calls between Thurmond and Trimarchi, Trimarchi admitted to selling the fatal dose of fentanyl in the form of a fake oxycodone pill to the second person, with the pill coming from the supply of fake oxycodone pills provided by Thurmond to Trimarchi to sell on his behalf while he was incarcerated, prosecutors said.

In 2019, nearly 71,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of
injury-related death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Department of Justice.

The increase in overdose deaths has been driven in large part by fentanyl, a drug that has been described as 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine, and in 2019, over 14,000 people died in the United States from a drug overdose involving heroin, the agencies found.

From 2013 to 2019, the synthetic opioid death rate increased by more than 1,000 percent, and of those deaths, over 70 percent involved a prescription or illicit opioid, according to the agencies.

Among New York State residents, the number of overdose deaths involving any opioid increased each year between 2010 and 2017, with an overall increase of 200.2 percent from 1,074 in 2010 to 3,224 in 2017, the New York State Health Department found.

The Department of Justice urged that if residents or someone they know is struggling with substance abuse, to contact the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services
Administration Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP or Findtreatment.gov.