A former NYPD detective is among four arrested in a massive drug and firearm bust for allegedly conspiring to flood Staten Island with narcotics, prosecutors announced Monday.
Philip Pietrunti, who has shown up in headlines before for a shooting in 2015, joined accused ringleader Shanta Sawyer, wife Sophia Abinacer, and Michael Giordano. The Office of the Special Narcotics Prosecutor for the City of New York said that NYPD officers with the Narcotics Bureau took all four into custody at their homes on Thursday morning.
Authorities report that the joint task force raided the Washington Heights home of Sawyer and Abinacer at around 6 a.m. on Nov. 5, when officers recovered what they described as large quantities of fentanyl, crack-cocaine, and heroin from inside a backpack in the kitchen and from a safe located in the closet of a bedroom. A pill-pressing machine was also found in the same bedroom on the floor next to the bed. Two young children were present in the apartment at the time of the search.
Meanwhile, on Staten Island, cops found a small lockbox containing a quantity of crack-cocaine and approximately 40 glassine envelopes containing heroin from inside a bedroom of Giordano’s Great Kills home, along with scales. Finally, police also searched the Eltingville home of Pietrunti, the former detective, where they discovered 13 unlicensed firearms, including 12 from inside a safe in a bedroom and one from a shelf next to the safe. They likewise recovered ammunition for each of the 13 firearms, which included AR-style rifles.
“This six-month investigation is a reminder of the NYPD’s relentless efforts to get guns and drugs off our streets,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. “These defendants flooded Upper Manhattan and Staten Island with dangerous drugs, but thanks to the tireless work of NYPD investigators, this trafficking network has been shut down for good.”
The criminal complaint showed that officers from the Special Narcotics Prosecutor and the NYPD began a wiretap investigation into the ring on May 13 of this year. Legal documents allege that the four accused drug peddlers were overheard using what is described as coded language to discuss the sale of narcotics.
On May 16, just days after the investigation began, Sawyer allegedly offered to sell Pietrunti cocaine — which they referred to as “ball” so he could resell it himself.
“I’m selling to someone at work,” Pietrunti reportedly said.
According to prosecutors, on Aug. 25, the pair allegedly discussed meeting at a Wendy’s restaurant for the sale of cocaine and Xanax pills, and NYPD investigators later watched the pair meet at the location.
On Oct. 3, Sawyer is accused of sending his wife to make the sale of illicit drugs. Just days later, on Oct. 7, Sawyer and Giordano were caught planning to use the latter’s house as a meeting point to make more sales.
“This operation shut down a dangerous drug pipeline spanning from Upper Manhattan to Staten Island. The arrests are a result of the relentless investigative work of our Assistant District Attorneys, Special Narcotics investigators, and the NYPD’s narcotics teams in Staten Island and Manhattan,” Special Narcotics Prosecutor Bridget Brennan said. “Tracking this network for months, the investigative team did not settle for arresting only street-level dealers. Removing deadly narcotics, the equipment used to produce it, and more than a dozen illegal firearms makes our communities safer today. I want to thank the Staten Island District Attorney Michael E. McMahon and his staff for their partnership in bringing this organization down.”
During their arraignment hearings on Nov. 6, Sawyer was ordered held on $250,000 bond, while Pietrunti’s bail was set at $100,000. Abinacer and Giordano were released on their own recognizance.
