Anthony Gianatiempo, 34, of Westbury, pleaded guilty on Tuesday, June 2, before Nassau County Judge Caryn Fink to Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the First Degree, according to the Nassau County District Attorney's Office.
He is expected to be sentenced to six years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision on Aug. 7.
The guilty plea stems from an investigation by the DEA New York Field Division, Nassau County Police Department, Nassau County Sheriff's Office, Suffolk County Police Department, Freeport Police Department, and New York State Police. Nassau County police first announced Gianatiempo's arrest on Aug. 5, 2025, after a search of his Hicksville-area residence uncovered fentanyl, methamphetamine, explosives, and smokeless gun powder.
According to prosecutors, Gianatiempo sold multiple narcotics to an individual in Cantiague Park in Westbury on June 18, 2025, including substances later determined to contain heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine, alprazolam, and xylazine, also known as "tranq." The drugs were exchanged for $820, according to the DA's office.
Based on that investigation, authorities executed a search warrant at Gianatiempo's home on Aug. 5, 2025, recovering heroin, fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine, explosive devices, smokeless powder, counterfeit U.S. currency, and 15 grams of N-Pyrrolidino Isotonitazene, a powerful synthetic opioid known as a nitazene.
The nitazene compound recovered during the search was the first of its kind identified by law enforcement in Nassau County, according to prosecutors. The substance is not currently listed under New York State's controlled substance schedules, making simple possession difficult to prosecute under existing law.
When announcing the arrest last year, Nassau County police said investigators also recovered multiple devices believed to be explosives, along with containers of smokeless gunpowder. The department used the case to warn the public that pills pressed with fentanyl can closely resemble legitimate prescription medication.
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