Feds Charge 2 With Causing 4 Fatal North Fork ODs

A federal grand jury has indicted two accused drug dealers from Riverhead for allegedly selling the narcotics that caused a string of fatal overdoses on the East End last summer, authorities said.

Marquis “Prince” Douglas, 36, and 38-year-old Jesse “Jah” Pace were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, and distribution of controlled substances causing the death of the four victims on August 13, 2021. Pace will be arraigned Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Steven Tiscione at Central Islip federal court. Douglas, who is already in federal custody on related charges, will be arraigned at a later date.

“The defendants’ drug sales caused four overdose deaths in a single day last summer, contributing to the tragic history of the opioid epidemic that has claimed too many lives on Long Island,” said Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. 

Prosecutors said Douglas and Pace allegedly distributed five kilograms of cocaine, one kilogram of heroin, 280 grams of crack cocaine, 40 grams of fentanyl and a quantity of a fentanyl analogue, which led to a series of overdose deaths in connection to fentanyl laced cocaine on the North Fork and Shelter Island.

More recently, while traveling as a passenger in a vehicle that was stopped for a traffic infraction in Suffolk County on May 5, Douglas was found in possession of distribution quantities of cocaine and fentanyl, authorities said. A pair of suspects are also facing charges in Suffolk court related to two additional fatal overdoses that occurred around the same time.

Douglas and Pace face up to life in federal prison, if convicted. Attorney information for the suspects was not immediately available.