PAROLEE SENTENCED TO 10 YEARS IN PRISON FOR POSSESSION WITH INTENT TO SELL COCAINE, HEROIN, AND ENOUGH FENTANYL TO KILL HUNDREDS OF THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE

(SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y.) – Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney today announced that Nathaniel Howell, 40, of Medford, was sentenced to 10 years in prison followed by five years of post-release supervision for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree for possessing cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl with intent to distribute out of his Medford home.

“This defendant was brazen enough to continue peddling these poisons while on parole for a prior cocaine and illegal weapon offenses,” said District Attorney Tierney. “Our parole system is clearly broken as it no longer allows parole officers to effectively monitor parolees, however, with this guilty plea and sentence, my office has removed a significant threat from our community, which makes us all safer.”   

According to court documents and the defendant’s admissions during his guilty plea allocution, in November 2023, the District Attorney’s Fentanyl Task Force launched an investigation and found that Howell was selling cocaine and fentanyl out of his home on Wilson Avenue in Medford.

A search warrant was executed against the home where police subsequently recovered a bag containing 1.57 ounces of fentanyl, a bag containing 2.10 ounces of heroin mixed with fentanyl and a bag containing 3.54 ounces of heroin, and over $305,000 dollars from his bedroom.

At the time of this offense, Howell was already on parole for a conviction stemming from a 2020 search warrant executed under similar circumstances against Howell’s Medford home. That investigation had resulted in the seizure of cocaine, a loaded firearm, and over $50,000 dollars.

Howell has seven prior felony convictions, including:

• A 2004 conviction for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Seventh Degree and a Felony charge of Driving While Intoxicated. Howell was sentenced to six months in jail.
• A 2007 conviction for Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. Howell was sentenced to three years in prison.
• A 2009 conviction for Attempted Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. Howell was sentenced to three and a half years in prison.
• A 2015 conviction for Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. Howell was sentenced to two and a half years in prison.
• A 2020 conviction for Attempted Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Third Degree. Howell was sentenced to two years in prison.  

Howell also has numerous misdemeanor convictions where he served periods of incarceration.

On April 4, 2024, Howell pleaded guilty before Supreme Court Justice Richard Ambro to two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Class A felonies. On May 9, 2024, Howell was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. Howell was represented by Ira Weissman, Esq.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Robert Kerr of the Narcotics Bureau, and the investigation was conducted by Suffolk County District Attorney’s Fentanyl Task Force which is comprised of District Attorney Investigators, the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Office, and the Suffolk County Police Department.

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Defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. No one is above the law.

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