A Hamptons man was sentenced to 18 years in prison for transporting approximately two kilograms of fentanyl from Suffolk County into Hollis, with an estimated street value of $80,000, in November 2022, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Wednesday.
Dennis Carrol, 34, of Evergreen Road in Flanders, was convicted by a jury in Queens Supreme Court on March 24 of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the first degree and two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree following a four-week trial.
According to the charges and trial testimony, the Major Narcotics Unit of the DA’s Major Economic Crimes Bureau, in conjunction with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Division, conducted an investigation utilizing court-authorized surveillance of the defendant’s activities during the month of November 2022.
Based on the intelligence gathered, agents from the DEA and members of the Port Authority Police Department conducted a car stop at 188th Street in Hollis at 3:30 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 28, 2022. A search of the vehicle turned up two plastic bags containing approximately 2 kilograms of fentanyl, the deadly synthetic opioid that is up to 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine, inside the trunk of the Nissan Altima Carroll was driving. The DEA agents found a shopping bag containing two bricks of fentanyl in a Ziploc bag, enough to produce 20,000 counterfeit pills.
According to the DEA, one kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. Just two milligrams of fentanyl is considered a lethal dose.
“Those who peddle poison into Queens are on notice: my office will prosecute drug traffickers and work with our law enforcement partners to seize lethal drugs to ensure public safety,” Katz said. “This defendant was convicted of possessing 2 kilograms of deadly fentanyl that thankfully never made it into our neighborhoods. I thank our partners at the Drug Enforcement Administration for their assistance in this investigation.”
Queens Supreme Court Justice Leigh Cheng, who presided at trial, sentenced Carrol on Tuesday to 18 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision.
