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Putnam County resident William Mancusi III of Kent was sentenced to nine years in state prison for selling a dangerous combination of heroin and fentanyl on two occasions, Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy announced on Tuesday, May 14.
According to Tendy's office, the events leading to Mancusi's sentencing began on November 12, 2021, when New York State Police responded to a fatal overdose in Southeast. Following an investigation, authorities determined the drugs that caused the overdose had been sold by Mancusi.
The State Police Violent Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team then conducted undercover operations that led to Mancusi selling a heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine cocktail to a confidential informant.
Additionally, he was also recorded as bragging that the combination was some of the "strongest" drugs that he had "in over a year," and was also heard warning the informant to "be careful" while using the substances, officials said. A chemical analysis of the cocktail conducted by authorities later confirmed that the drugs were a "very potent" combination of heroin, fentanyl, and xylazine.
Mancusi's latest conviction is not his first, as he was previously convicted of vehicular manslaughter following a 2008 incident in which he struck and killed a bicyclist in Dutchess County while impaired by drugs.
During Mancusi's sentencing proceedings, a judge rejected his request for a drug treatment facility and instead agreed with findings that he had never expressed remorse for his actions and had repeatedly failed to seek drug rehabilitation for his admitted addiction.
"The defendant’s callous disregard for the potential life-ending substances he was pushing is difficult to fathom,” Tendy said of Mancusi, adding, "How he could put so many people in danger is beyond me.”
Mancusi was convicted on two counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.
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