-1°
Schenectady resident and former Long Islander Ralph St. Croix, age 39, was sentenced to 70 months behind bars Thursday, July 21, in federal court in Albany.
As part of his guilty plea, St. Croix - who also goes by the name “Stretch” - admitted to selling the fentanyl-laced drugs to another person on three occasions at his apartment on Eastern Avenue in Schenectady in December 2020.
Fentanyl is a powerful, synthetic opioid that is roughly 90 times stronger than morphine and has been tied to a rise in overdose deaths across the United States.
St. Croix, who has a prior felony conviction, also admitted to possessing a loaded .38 caliber revolver and a 12-gauge shotgun that he used to guard against the theft of his drugs and drug proceeds, according to prosecutors.
In addition to his prison time, a judge also sentenced him to three years of supervised release.
The case was part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods, described as an effort to identify and prosecute the most violent offenders in the community.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Beekman-Poughquag and receive free news updates.
