Man sentenced to nine years for selling 600 bags of heroin in Glen Cove

Jeffrey Ventura, 30, of Corona, Queens, has been sentenced to nine years in prison for selling hundreds of bags of heroin and multiple bags of cocaine in Glen Cove in 2016.

On Oct. 25, 2016, Ventura was found during a traffic stop in Glen Cove with roughly 600 bags of heroin, 19 bags of cocaine and packaging material. The drugs were located inside a trap in a Nissan Maxima when the entire center console was lifted up.

The pre-planned traffic stop was the result of a three-month-long joint investigation by the Nassau County District Attorney, federal Drug Enforcement Agency and Glen Cove Police Department. Ventura and two co-conspirators were on the way to sell the heroin to an undercover detective.

During the investigation, Ventura also sold 30 bags of heroin to an undercover detective.

Corona was convicted by a jury on June 29 of second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, two counts of third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, five counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree conspiracy, two counts of fourth-degree conspiracy, and two counts of second-degree criminal use of drug paraphernalia.

The Nassau County District Attorney's office recommended a sentence of 16 years in prison.

The trial before Judge Meryl Berkowitz lasted almost two weeks, and the jury deliberated for two days.

“We have treatment resources available to addicts and educational programs to prevent drug abuse, but we have no tolerance for the dealers like this defendant who profit from selling this deadly poison in our communities,” District Attorney Madeline Singas said. “Our law enforcement partners at every level are committed to ending this epidemic, and drug dealers should be on notice that if they sell heroin in our communities that we will find them, prosecute them, and send them to prison.”

Assistant District Attorney Lee Genser of Singas’s Special Operations Narcotics and Gangs Bureau prosecuted this case. Ventura was represented by attorney Joseph LoPiccolo.