An ex-NYPD detective was among four people arrested in a conspiracy to funnel hoards of drugs from Manhattan to Staten Island, according to authorities.
Shanta Sawyer, 44, is charged with conspiring with his wife, Sophia Abinacer, 37, Michael Giordano, 35, and retired detective Philip Pietrunti, 60, to distribute illegal narcotics to scores of Staten Island consumers, the city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office revealed Monday.
Investigators claimed the crew was arrested last Thursday following a six-month wiretap investigation and a raid on Sawyer and Abinacer’s Washington Heights home, as well as Giordano and Pietrunti’s houses in Great Kills and Eltingville.
Cops discovered enormous quantities of fentanyl, crack cocaine, and heroin in a backpack and safe, as well as a pill-pressing machine, while investigating the couple’s Washington Heights home, which also housed two small children.
Cops uncovered a small crack cocaine lockbox, 40 envelopes containing heroin and cocaine, two scales, and narcotics packaging equipment inside Giordano’s house.
Officers subsequently discovered at least 13 unauthorized firearms in the residence of Pietrunti, a retired NYPD Emergency Service Unit officer.
Investigators uncovered the narcotics plan through intercepted phone calls, including one on May 18 in which Sawyer discussed supplying cocaine to Pietrunti for resale.
“You can’t wait until you get off from work?” Pietrunti supposedly asked. “No, because I’m selling to someone at work,” Sawyer responded.
In late August, the two discussed meeting at a Wendy’s restaurant to sell cocaine and “Xannies,” or Xanax tablets. Sawyer allegedly told the ex-cop that the drugs were counterfeit.
On October 2, investigators intercepted a call in which Sawyer planned to send his wife, Abinacer, to meet a buyer for a drugs transaction involving “dog food,” “G’s,” “Hard,” “Candy,” and “Pebbles”—terms used to allude to heroin, crack cocaine, and fentanyl.
The next day, cops saw her arriving in Huguenot, Staten Island, to meet with the customer before driving back to her Manhattan home.
Multiple phone calls also suggested that Sawyer and Giordano intended to sell cocaine and fentanyl to another customer from Giordano’s Great Kills residence.
Police later observed the client stop up in front of the home, while Giordano exited and leaned into the vehicle. Sawyer eventually left the house.
“The defendants involved in this takedown are alleged to have participated in a multi-borough criminal conspiracy that sought to flood our borough with dangerous narcotics, including large quantities of fentanyl, heroin, and oxycodone,” Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon said in a statement.
“One of the defendants, Philip Pietrunti, a Staten Islander and retired NYPD Emergency Service Unit member, is accused of amassing a small army’s worth of illegal firearms, jeopardizing our borough’s public safety and betraying his oath to protect the community he once served.”
Pietrunti’s arrest last week was not his first run-in with the law.
In 2015, he was accused of discharging a revolver at an excavator vehicle during a workplace dispute with a construction company for which he previously worked, marking his third arrest of the year, the Staten Island Advance reported.
The four alleged dealers were arraigned in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday, and Sawyer’s bail was set at $250,000. Pietruniti was ordered jailed on $100,000 bail.
Police claimed Abinacer and Giordano were released without bond.
“This six-month investigation is a reminder of the NYPD’s relentless efforts to get guns and drugs off our streets,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch.
“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 permanently shut down. ” We appreciate the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office working together to make our neighborhoods safer.”
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