Drug Dealer Gets 9 Years After Fentanyl, Crack Cause Fatal OD: DA

WYANDANCH, NY — A man was sentenced to nine years in prison for selling fentanyl and crack cocaine that led to a Ronkonkoma woman's fatal overdose in 2022, according to Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney.

In March, Justin Llewellyn, 35, of Wyandanch, pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Richard I.Horowitz to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and fourth-degree conspiracy, for selling fentanyl and crack cocaine to Yasmine DeLeon, 25, of Ronkonkoma, which led to her fatal overdose in November 2022, Tierney said.

Llewellyn admitted to participating in a narcotics distribution network and to having committed 10 separate overt acts in furtherance of the drug conspiracy, TIerney said. He was one of 21 defendants indicted last April following a long-term narcotics and gun trafficking investigation, according to the DA.

On Wednesday, Justice Horowitz sentenced Llewellyn to nine years in prison followed by three years of post-release supervision on the instant case, and two and a half years in prison followed by one year of post-release supervision on the prior case from 2021, the DA said.

According to evidence established at trial and the defendant’s admissions, on November 13, 2022, at around 9 p.m., Llewellyn sold fentanyl and crack cocaine to DeLeon and another person at a hotel in Ronkonkoma, Tierney said. When DeLeon didn't wake up the next morning, Llewellyn entered the room and administered Narcan to her, but she still didn't wake up, the DA said.

DeLeon was pronounced dead at the scene when law enforcement arrived, the DA said. Llewellyn was arrested at the scene and found in possession of narcotics, including fentanyl, according to the DA.

The DA said that when officials obtained a search warrant for Llewellyn’s vehicle, they found drug paraphernalia, including scales used to weigh drugs and an “overdose kit” containing multiple doses of unused Narcan.

At the time of the arrest, Llewellyn was out of jail and awaiting sentence on a prior drug conviction from 2021, according to the DA.

“‘Chelsey’s Law,’ which is currently pending before the New York State legislature, would allow prosecutors to charge drug dealers with manslaughter where there are reasonable grounds to know that the substance that they are selling will cause death,” said Tierney. “Unfortunately, under current New York State law, all prosecutors can do is charge and seek penalties for the drug sale itself, with no additional charges or penalties for the death that was caused. This must change. I hope that our legislators do something to help stop the epidemic of opioid overdoses that we are seeing across New York State.”

Llewellyn was represented by Christopher J. Cassar, who was not immediately available for comment.