Central Islip man receives 18-year jail sentence in fatal overdose

A Suffolk judge sentenced a Central Islip man to 18 years in prison on Wednesday, following his guilty plea to charges related to the sale of narcotics that led to the death of a 25-year-old Brentwood man.

Jeffrey Sloan, 62, had pleaded guilty in October to first-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

“The 18-year sentence handed down today stands as a hard-won affirmation of justice and the relentless work that brought this case to the finish line,” Suffolk District Attorney Raymond Tierney said.

“Investigators methodically uncovered every link in the chain that led to a needless death, and the court answered with the weight the facts demanded.”

Court documents and statements from Sloan during his plea statement indicated the victim purchased narcotics from him on Feb. 4 at a Brentwood 7-Eleven, including 13 bags of heroin and a Xanax pill, for $140.

Surveillance footage showed Sloan arriving at the store and conducting a hand-to-hand transaction with the victim, Tierney explained.

Two days later, Feb. 6, the victim was found dead at a Brentwood residence. Law enforcement recovered glassine envelopes containing heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, and ketamine, as well as a Xanax pill and the victim’s cell phone.

An autopsy determined the cause of death to be mixed drug intoxication, with fentanyl, cocaine, ketamine, morphine and fentanyl present in his system.

Later, a search of Sloan’s home, camper and vehicles uncovered over 16 ounces of a fentanyl-heroin mixture, cocaine, more than 100 assorted pills, phones, ledgers and drug paraphernalia, Tierney said.

Investigators also seized medetomidine, a powerful tranquilizer used in large animals, which has been increasingly found as an adulterant in the illicit drug supply, authorities said.

_{Top: inset photo provided by SCDA; main photo is 7-Eleven on Crooked Hill Road in Brentwood, via Google Maps Street View.}