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The incidents occurred in Rockland County between Feb. 2020 and April 2022.
Williams said Justin Turnick, age 25, of Congers, pled guilty to distributing the fentanyl causing the deaths and overdoses on Tuesday, Aug. 6, in US District Court.
“Justin Turnick’s actions didn’t just facilitate addiction—they fueled a crisis that claimed lives and inflicted unimaginable suffering," Willaims said.
According to the allegations in the Indictment, court filings, and statements made in court, Turnick engaged in the regular distribution of narcotics to members of his community in Rockland County, including his friends, partners, and acquaintances.
He also knowingly distributed fentanyl in various forms, including fentanyl that had been packaged into pills, pure fentanyl, and fentanyl-laced powder.
Court documents show Turnick distributed fentanyl to Gustaf Olsen, resulting in his death, in Feb. 2020; to Jonathan Shashoua, resulting in his death, in July 2020; to a woman, resulting in her poisoning and serious bodily injury, in Jan. 2021; to Ione Koenig, resulting in her poisoning and serious bodily injury, in July 2021; to Ione Koenig, resulting in her death, on Saturday, July 31, 2021; and to a male victim, resulting in his poisoning and serious bodily injury, in April 2022.
Turnick pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, which carries a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
As part of his guilty plea, he admitted the substances he sold resulted in the fatal fentanyl poisonings of Gustaf Olsen, Jonathan Shashoua, and Ione Koenig, and the non-fatal fentanyl poisonings of a female victim, a male victim, and Ione Koenig.
Turnnick is scheduled to be sentenced in Feb. 2025.
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