Rashied Smith, 41, of Central Islip, was sentenced to seven years in Suffolk County Court on Thursday 18 May after pleading guilty to drug offences.
His sentencing came a month after another Huntington Station man, Qhamel Dickerson, 28, was sentenced to five years in prison for drug charges.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, both Smith and Dixon sent text messages arranging to sell drugs to the women shortly before they overdose.
On June 23, 2022, Suffolk County Police found a 43-year-old woman dead of a drug overdose at a home in Mustique.
Investigators determined Smith had texted her the night before and agreed to sell her crack cocaine and fentanyl. The two later met in person and completed the drug deal.
Smith sold crack cocaine to an undercover detective within 48 hours of the woman’s death, and then sold cocaine and fentanyl to the same undercover detective days later.
A search of his home found a loaded semiautomatic handgun, crack cocaine and digital scales, prosecutors said.
On April 27, 2023, he pleaded guilty to the following charges:
- Two counts of 3rd degree criminal sale of a controlled substance (felony)
- Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Felony)
In addition to the jail time, the judge also sentenced him to five years in post-prison supervision.
Dixon admitted selling counterfeit oxycodone tablets to a 23-year-old East Northport woman who died of an overdose on July 5, 2022.
The pills have the same color, shape and markings as oxycodone but actually contain fentanyl.
Prosecutors said text messages on the victim’s cell phone confirmed she bought the drugs from Dixon.
In September 2022, he was arrested after selling the same pills to an undercover police detective in Suffolk.
On March 10, 2023, he pleaded guilty to two felony counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. In sentencing on April 18, the judge also ordered him to serve two years of post-release supervision.
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement: “The fentanyl epidemic has claimed the lives of two other innocent women, and unfortunately, without action, this problem will continue. deterioration.”
“The dangers of fentanyl are no longer breaking news. Not in Suffolk, not in Albany, and not for the dealers who continue to push this poison into our communities.”
Tierney called on state lawmakers to pass legislation that would allow drug dealers to be held criminally liable for overdose deaths.
“For the sake of the victims and their families, we have an obligation to hold all fentanyl dealers accountable for the deaths they cause,” he said.
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