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Ricky Jackson, 41, of Hempstead, was sentenced to a term of 15 years in prison and five years’ post-release supervision after pleading guilty last month to criminal possession of a controlled substance, a felony.
Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said that beginning in April last year, in an effort to curb drug and gun-related violence in Hempstead, her Office, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, began investigating a drug ring that operated on Terrace Avenue in Hempstead.
Singas said that in total, 400 grams of fentanyl valued at more than $130,000, 500 grams of cocaine valued at $50,000 and eight firearms were seized during the investigation.
The 400 grams of seized fentanyl represents approximately 150,000 potentially fatal overdoses and the largest fentanyl seizure in Nassau County history.
According to the Drug Enforcement Administration, two milligrams of fentanyl is fatal in most adults.
Jackson, an inmate at FMC Devens Federal Prison in Massachusetts, allegedly directed his business partner Darren Devane and girlfriend Angelique White to take possession of what was believed to be 100 grams of heroin stored in White’s apartment.
Investigators proceeded to seize the 100 grams from White and during a search of her apartment the next day, an additional 300 grams of a white powdery substance were seized, Singas said. Testing later revealed the total 400 grams – thought to be heroin – were nearly pure fentanyl.
“Ricky Jackson directed a drug trafficking ring from his federal prison cell and this investigation led to the largest seizure of deadly fentanyl in Nassau’s history,” Singas said. “The seamless collaboration of our law enforcement partners shut down this trafficking network, prevented the distribution of this especially lethal synthetic opioid, and saved countless lives.”
White pleaded guilty to criminal possession of a controlled substance last month and is expected to be sentenced to five years probation in February. The cases against five other co-conspirators are ongoing.
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