Smithtown Man Charged In Fatal Nassau Overdose Remanded To Suffolk Custody: DA

Crime & Safety

Smithtown Man Charged In Fatal Nassau Overdose Remanded To Suffolk Custody: DA A week after a girl's fatal overdose, the man was indicted in a separate case where the DA says he sold fentanyl pills to undercover cops.

SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY — The man accused of selling fentanyl-laced oxycodone pills connected with a Garden City High School student's fatal overdose was ordered remanded after a Suffolk County court hearing following his re-arrest by Nassau County authorities, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney announced Wednesday.

Daquan Booker, 34, of Smithtown, was arraigned Tuesday on two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, in connection with the 2023 death of a 17-year-old from Garden City , Nassau County DA Anne Donnelly said. Booker pleaded not guilty.

Booker had previously been placed into the Suffolk County Court's Judicial Diversion Program over the objection of prosecutors, according to Tierney.

"The State Legislature has insulated narcotics traffickers like Daquan Booker from the consequences of their actions by prohibiting prosecutors from asking for bail and silencing us in decisions to divert cases away from impactful sentencing," Tierney said in a news release. "The results have been deadly. Distribution of fentanyl is never victimless. It is depraved indifference to the lives of our communities and children and prosecutors must be empowered to stop it. The diversion courts in Suffolk and New York are broken and must be fixed before more innocent lives are lost."

On July 11, 2023, Suffolk police officers arrested Booker following the culmination of an investigation that found Booker had sold pressed fentanyl pills to undercover officers, prosecutors said.

Though Booker was "promptly indicted," he remained out of custody because his charges were considered non-bail eligible under New York State law, meaning that prosecutors cannot ask for, and judges cannot set, bail, Tierney said.

On Feb. 27, Booker pleaded guilty to all four counts in the indictment, which contained two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and two counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance; in exchange for the court's commitment to allow Booker to participate in the Judicial Diversion Program, Tierney said. The program, created by the state, is reserved for defendants whose crimes are found to have a connection with their personal substance abuse or addiction.

The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office had strongly opposed Booker's entry into the program, it stated.

On June 15, members of the Suffolk County Police Department arrested Booker on a second occasion, following an alleged reckless driving offense that resulted in additional charges for second-degree obstructing governmental administration, resisting arrest, third-degree criminal possession of a weapon, and second-degree assault, officials said.

Although he was remanded following his arrest, the court released Booker in August and gave him another opportunity to resume participation in the Judicial Diversion Program, Tierney said. The Suffolk DA's Office again objected to the decision.

On Oct. 11, Booker was arrested on an indictment in connection with the fatal overdose of Grace Wrightington, a Garden City High School student, Tierney said.

Booker met with Wrightington at Roosevelt Field Mall in Garden City on June 30, 2023, when he sold her pills that resembled oxycodone, Nassau DA Donnelly said. On July 4, 2023, Wrightington, a rising senior at Garden City High School, was found dead in her bedroom after suffering an apparent drug overdose, Donnelly said.

Authorities apprehended Booker at the Riverhead Correctional Facility, where he had intended to visit an inmate, Tierney said.

Upon his return to Nassau County for processing, Booker was found to possess a quantity of cocaine, resulting in another criminal charge for seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, officials said.

Booker was released following arraignment on all charges in Nassau County on Tuesday, Tierney said.

On Wednesday, subject to a renewed application by the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Booker was remanded without bail on his original case pending in Suffolk County Court, the Suffolk DA said. A pre-sentence investigation was ordered. Booker's next scheduled court date is Nov. 1.

"I am pleased that Daquan Booker was remanded after his court appearance today in Suffolk County," Donnelly said in a statement. "This defendant is being prosecuted in both Suffolk and Nassau counties for possessing and selling deadly fentanyl. Just yesterday, he was arraigned for allegedly selling illegal opioids to 17-year-old Grace Wrightington that contained fentanyl and resulted in her fatal overdose. However, we could not charge Booker with Grace's senseless death because of deficiencies in our state law. Working together with District Attorney Tierney, we will continue to put pressure on our legislature to pass meaningful reforms that finally hold drug dealers accountable for the deaths their drugs cause and the pain they inflict upon the families of those who tragically overdose."

Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas, who remanded Booker, had previously promised Booker an upstate sentence of two years determinate; to be followed by two years of post-release supervision, should Booker fail to complete the terms of treatment set forth in his Judicial Diversion contract, the Suffolk County DA said.

Booker is being represented by Danielle Papa.