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Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney and Sheriff Errol Toulon outlined the alleged plot at a press conference at the county municipal campus in Riverhead on Thursday, Nov. 16.
According to investigators, corrections officers at the Suffolk County jail first learned of the scheme in August 2023.
They were tipped off that an inmate, 35-year-old Jyzir Hamilton, of Hauppauge, was arranging for his girlfriend to have fentanyl-laced papers delivered to the facility.
The potent, synthetic opioid drug is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The plan called for the papers to be unknowingly carried into the jail by Hamilton’s attorney, who knew nothing about the scheme, prosecutors said.
Investigators said Hamilton conspired with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Janiah Williams, of Central Islip, and three others to purchase the fentanyl and arrange for its delivery to the jail.
On Saturday, Aug. 19, one of the defendants allegedly delivered four blank pages to Williams that had been sprayed with a liquid laced with fentanyl.
Hamilton then instructed Williams to contact an attorney for another defendant so that the attorney could unknowingly bring “legal documents” into the jail.
Deputies arrested Williams on Wednesday, Aug. 23, as she entered the Suffolk County Court complex in Riverhead. She was reportedly found with a manilla envelope containing four pages soaked in $20,000 worth of fentanyl.
“This group not only allegedly attempted to smuggle deadly fentanyl into the Suffolk County Correctional Facility, but they also attempted to use an unsuspecting defense attorney to deliver it,” Tierey said.
“Had any of the fentanyl from the laced sheets of paper been ingested in any way, through touch or otherwise, the results could have been deadly.”
The following defendants have been charged for their alleged roles in the scheme:
- Jyzir Hamilton, age 35, of Hamilton
- Alyssa Brienza, age 30, of Calverton
- Janiah Williams, age 24, of Central Islip
- Eric Freeman, age 48, of Huntington Station
- Arnold Foster, age 33, of Centereach
Hamilton, Brienza, and Williams are facing the most serious charges, including attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance and promoting prison contraband.
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