A drug dealer and his girlfriend kept four puppies in stomach-turning conditions as he allegedly peddled loads of fentanyl from his Long Island home, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Troy Daniels, 44, was nabbed after selling more than two ounces of fentanyl – enough to kill 28,000 people – to an undercover investigator between May and July, according to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office.
The DA’s East End Drug Task Force ultimately raided the alleged dealer’s Middle Island drug den on July 18 — and discovered the poor American Bully pups holed up in a feces-filled crate.
Three of the dogs were shoved in one crate without food or water as they laid in their own feces and urine, while the fourth sickly puppy was suffering from severely infected and inflamed ears, prosecutors said.
All the dogs were pulled from the home and taken to a veterinarian for treatment.
Officers recovered more than a half-ounce of fentanyl, a half-ounce of fentanyl mixed with heroin and more than an eighth-ounce of fentanyl meshed with cocaine inside the apartment, according to prosecutors.
Other drug paraphernalia and a shotgun were also seized from the apartment, the DA’s office said.
Prosecutors said Daniels had met with the undercover agents on several occasions outside in the parking lot of his apartment complex.
Daniels and his 31-year-old girlfriend, Toni Gerwycki, were both indicted on a count each of overdriving, torturing and injuring animals and three counts each of failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded dogs earlier this month, prosecutors said.
Daniels is also facing a flood of felony drug charges, including four counts of first-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, 13 counts of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and a count of fourth-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.
“Each illicit transaction of fentanyl has lethal potential,” District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a statement.
“Dealers must face consequences commensurate with the threat that their actions pose to our community.”
Gerwycki’s lawyer, Ian Fitzgerald, told The Post his client was not responsible for the dogs, and insisted the puppies were all well taken care of, claiming they were only placed in the cage when law enforcement entered the home.
He said his client disputed that she and Daniels were a couple, and claimed she just happened to be in the apartment when cops burst in.
“They weren’t her dogs, she doesn’t live in that house, they weren’t her animals to care for, she never abused any animals, she never neglected any animals, she was going to purchase one of the puppies who had ample food and ample water and weren’t being starved or not giving any water,” Fitzgerald said.
The charges against Gerwycki aren’t eligible for bail and she was cut loose pending trial. She faces a maximum year sentence if convicted on top count.
Daniels was being held behind bars on $500,000 cash bail. He faces up to 20 years if convicted of the top count.
His lawyer, John LoTurco, said Daniels deserves the presumption of innocence.
“We appreciate the serious allegations contained within the indictment,” he said in a statement. “Accordingly, our law firm will carefully scrutinize the evidence to evaluate our next steps in defending our client.”
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