Drug network selling fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills to Long Island 'dismantled,' Nassau prosecutors say

A Hempstead man conspired with three others to traffic in hundreds of counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with narcotics, including deadly fentanyl, over two years, shipping the drugs across the country from Arizona to Nassau County and other locations, according to a joint law enforcement news release.

The alleged leader, Macayo Parrott, 51, of Glendale, Arizona, pleaded not guilty on Monday to nine counts of drug possession and drug dealing and charges that he operated a major drug ring, according to court records.

"My client maintains his innocence and looks forward to clearing his name," Parrott’s defense attorney, Thomas Mirigliano, said. "What they’re saying does not comport with my client's current lifestyle."

Co-defendant Robert Bowie, 50, of Phoenix, also pleaded not guilty on Monday to conspiracy and drug possession charges.

Drug task force authorities said that the two men worked with Bruce Frazier, 51, of Hempstead, and Antwann Meyers, 45, of Queens, who both pleaded not guilty in March to drug dealing, conspiracy and attempted possession charges. Authorities say that the group spent nearly three years making thousands of dollars from shipping drugs from the Southwest to Long Island.

"For several years, these defendants allegedly worked together to move dozens of shipments of dangerous illegal narcotics, including fentanyl, cocaine, and methamphetamine, to states across the country and right here in Nassau County," Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. "This incredible bust dismantled a sophisticated drug trafficking network and seized nearly two thousand grams of fentanyl."

Nassau County investigators, working with the Drug Enforcement Administration, developed a tip in June 2023 to track the activity of the ring, authorities said.

Over the years, detectives said they intercepted phone calls, CashApp and credit union transfers and packages shipped to the Queens neighborhood of Jamaica and Hempstead.

Meyers, a hotel security guard, had some of the packages shipped to his work, prosecutors said. They said that Parrott tracked the parcels with his cellphone number.

Other packages from Parrott were shipped straight to Frazier’s home, investigators said.

Over nearly three years, Parrott sent more than 100 shipments to the Hempstead address and other locations in New York State, according to prosecutors.

Investigators said that they seized over 4,000 fentanyl pills styled to look like 30 mg oxycodone pills, two fentanyl bricks, two kilograms of methamphetamine and a kilo of cocaine. A kilo of fentanyl can fetch up to $40,000 in the New York City area, prosecutors said.

Bowie’s defense attorney, Jeffrey Groder, said that he is reviewing the evidence in the case and declined to comment further. The lawyers for the other men did not immediately respond to calls for comment.

Parrott was remanded and held without bail. Frazier's and Bowie's bail was set at $1 million cash. Meyers's bail was set at $2 million cash. If convicted, all four face decades behind bars.

Parrott and Bowie are due back in court in July. The other men will next appear before the judge on June 15.