Overview
- Phillip Gonzales, who was indicted Thursday, faces 25 counts and a possible term of 15 years to life if convicted.
- Investigators opened the probe after two brothers overdosed on February 17 in East Patchogue, where one died and phones in the home pointed detectives to a dealer contact.
- Undercover buys led police to execute a February 26 search at Gonzales’s Selden rental, where prosecutors say they seized about 4.5 kilograms of fentanyl and two loaded guns.
- Prosecutors estimate the seized fentanyl could cause roughly 2.2 million overdoses, and they valued the broader multi-drug cache at more than $360,000.
- The stash also included xylazine, meth, cocaine, ketamine, and “pink cocaine” known as Tusi, with vials matching those at the overdose scene, and officials warned that xylazine can blunt the lifesaving effect of Narcan.