‘Catch-Criminal!’ Prison Time For Drug Dealer Connected To Fatal Overdose In Southeast

DEBARYLIFE – Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy revealed on Tuesday, May 14, that William Mancusi III, a resident of Kent, was sentenced to nine years in state prison for twice distributing a lethal mixture of heroin and fentanyl.

Tendy’s office claims that on November 12, 2021, during a response to a fatal overdose in Southeast, Mancusi’s sentence was initiated. The chemicals that resulted in the overdose were sold by Mancusi, according to the authorities after an inquiry.

A confidential informant was sold a combination of heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine by Mancusi as a result of undercover operations carried out by the State Police Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team.

There was also audio of him boasting that the concoction was some of the “strongest” drugs he had used “in over a year,” and cautioning the informant to “be careful” before taking the pills, witnesses claimed.

The substances were a “very potent” combination of heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine, according to a later chemical study of the cocktail done by an official agency.

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Previously found guilty of vehicular manslaughter in 2008 after hitting and killing a bicyclist in Dutchess County while under the influence of drugs, Mancusi’s most recent conviction is not his first.

During the sentencing process, Mancusi’s request for a drug treatment center was denied by the judge, who concurred with the conclusion that he had consistently neglected to seek drug rehabilitation for his acknowledged addiction and had never expressed regret for his acts.

Trendy described Mancusi as having a “callous disregard for the potentially life-ending substances he was pushing [and] it is difficult to fathom how he could put so many people in danger.”

On two charges of illegal drug possession and one count of third-degree illegal drug sale, Mancusi was found guilty.