United States Drug Enforcement Administration

NEW YORK CITY - Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Frank A. Tarentino III, the Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, and Robert Noble, Chief of the Yorktown Police Department, announced that Perry Freeman was charged today with distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of a victim and illegally possessing ammunition.  Freeman was arrested and presented today before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause. 

U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “As alleged, Perry Freeman sold fentanyl to a victim who died a horrific death shortly after taking the drugs.  Investigators concluded that the victim parked his car and, with his foot on the gas, passed out from ingesting lethal levels of the drugs allegedly provided by Freeman.  The engine sparked a fire that engulfed the vehicle and burned the victim’s body.  We also allege that Freeman regularly sold fentanyl to a confidential informant and warned the informant to be careful with the drugs, indicating he knew how unsafe his product was.  This Office will not rest until those who peddle this poison have been brought to justice.”

DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said: “Data doesn’t lie, and law enforcement continues to track fatal fentanyl poisonings to the person responsible.  This arrest is an example of DEA and our law enforcement partners’ efforts to thwart more drug poisonings and bring to justice those responsible for causing the most harm to our communities.  I commend the men and women of the Yorktown Police Department, the DEA’s Westchester Resident Office’s Tactical Diversion Squad, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York for their tenacious work on this investigation.” 

Yorktown Police Chief Robert Noble said: “It is good for our community to see their local police department request assistance from federal agencies like the DEA and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and have it culminate with the arrest of an alleged dangerous drug dealer.  I commend the determination, intelligence, and teamwork demonstrated throughout this investigation.  Yorktown is a law and order community.  We’ll continue to work hard, share information, and work shoulder to shoulder on our streets with all of our partners in law enforcement to keep it that way.”

As alleged in the Complaint:[1]

On or about November 10, 2021, Freeman sold fentanyl to his victim.  Shortly thereafter, the police responded to a report of a burning car in a parking lot in Mohegan Lake, New York, approximately a three-minute drive from Freeman’s apartment building.  They found a Ford Focus on fire; the victim was in the driver’s seat with his foot on the accelerator pedal.  After the fire department put the fire out, the victim, declared dead, was pulled out.  Investigators determined that the car caught on fire after overheating while the accelerator pedal was depressed for an excessive period and the car was in park, i.e., while the victim was passed out in the driver’s seat with his foot on the pedal.

The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office, which is part of the Westchester Department of Laboratories and Research, performed an autopsy on the victim.  According to a report prepared by the Department of Laboratories and Research, as well as a conversation between a law enforcement officer and a member of the Medical Examiner’s office, the victim had lethal levels of both fentanyl and norfentanyl, a metabolite of fentanyl, in his blood and there was some darkening of his lungs, which indicated smoke inhalation before his death.  Moreover, the victim’s cause of death was certified as both acute fentanyl intoxication and accident.

Freeman, 37, of Mohegan Lake, New York, is charged with one count of fentanyl distribution resulting in death, which carries a minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, and one count of illegally possessing ammunition as a convicted felon, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison. 

The minimum and maximum potential sentences in this case are prescribed by Congress and are provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge. 

Mr. Williams praised the outstanding work of the DEA's Westchester Resident Office Tactical Diversion Squad and the Yorktown Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by the Office’s White Plains Division.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Maimin and Ben Arad are in charge of the prosecution.

The charges contained in the Complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.