Crime & Safety

Two Men Convicted of Running Suffolk Heroin Ring

Two men who sold heroin from Smithtown to Sound Beach now face 25 years to life in jail.

A Suffolk County jury has found two men guilty of running a heroin distribution ring that spanned from Sayville and Smithtown to Sound Beach. 

Joel Guzman, of Ridgewood, and Carlos Melendez, of the Bronx, were convicted on Class A-1 felony charges for operating as major drug traffickers following an eight-day trial and eight days of jury deliberation, according to District Attorney Thomas Spota. 

"We believe this is one of the first jury verdicts in New York State convicting defendants under the Operating as a Major Trafficker statute passed in 2009," Spota said in a statement. "This valuable law enforcement tool will keep purveyors of poison like Guzman and Melendez off our streets and away from our children for life." 

Guzman and Melendez ran a heroin distribution ring spanning Suffolk, Nassau, Queen and Bronx counties. Some of the local towns their operations sold heroin in include  Smithtown, Sayville, East Islip, Ronkonkoma, and Selden. 

Both men face a sentence of 25 years to life in prison as result of the jury's verdict. 


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