SUFFOLK COUNTY, N.Y. — A West Babylon man was sentenced to ten years in jail on Monday after being found in possession of a substantial amount of fentanyl and a loaded weapon.
Joshua Oltchick, 26, pled guilty to counts of criminal possession of a controlled drug and attempted criminal possession of a weapon after confessing to illegally possessing over 2,700 fentanyl tablets and a semiautomatic pistol.
District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the sentencing, claiming that the amount of fentanyl in Oltchick’s possession might have resulted in over 115,000 fatal deaths.
“Every fentanyl pill that this armed prior felon intended to sell in Suffolk County is a potential fatal overdose,” Tierney said, adding that the arrest exemplified successful police intervention.
On September 16, Suffolk County police officers responded to reports of a guy slumped over in a parked car near the intersection of 7th Avenue and 15th Street in West Babylon.
Officers discovered Oltchick’s vehicle parked in the opposite direction, with the engine running. When officers arrived, they discovered a loaded.380-caliber Beretta handgun on the driver’s seat between his knees.
Police shut off the engine and searched the vehicle, finding 8.25 ounces of fentanyl pills, cocaine, and amphetamines packaged for street sale. Officers also recovered narcotics packing supplies, scales, two cell phones, and more than $3,000 in cash.