Anthony Gianatiempo, of Westbury, pleads not guilty to possessing potent drugs and explosives

A Westbury man pleaded not guilty to a 32-count indictment on Thursday for possessing explosives, cocaine and what prosecutors say is the first Nassau County bust of a highly potent synthetic opioid called nitazene.

Developed in the 1950s, nitazene is as potent as fentanyl with the potential to be more deadly, drug enforcement officials say, because it is resistant to Narcan, the drug that can reverse the effects of an overdose, prosecutors say.

Anthony Gianatiempo, 34, was charged with 19 felony drug possession counts after Nassau County police and Drug Enforcement Administration agents raided his home on Cantiague Lane in August, confiscating 39 grams of fentanyl, 2 grams of heroin, 69 grams of methamphetamine, cocaine, ketamine and several brown cardboard tubes with fuses taped to them in addition to 9 pounds of smokeless gunpowder and counterfeit money, prosecutors and police said.

He was not charged for the 15 grams of nitazene found in a handbag in his bedroom because the drug is not illegal.

"This search marked the first time law enforcement has recovered and identified this particular nitazene in Nassau County," Nassau District Attorney Donnelly said in a statement. "But under New York State law, the compound we seized is not a scheduled drug, and unbelievably, not illegal to possess. This should serve as a wake-up call. We must act now to address the loopholes in drug laws that are consistently handcuffing prosecutors from taking action, before we are facing yet another preventable escalation in the opioid epidemic that we continue to fight on Long Island and lose more innocent lives."

State and federal officers suspected Gianantiempo, who was on probation for a 2019 felony charge of attempted assault, of dealing drugs going back to July 18, when he allegedly sold an undercover officer several baggies with a cocktail of cocaine and heroin in one, fentanyl, ketamine, and heroin in another and cocaine in a third for $820, prosecutors said. They said they found a powerful animal tranquilizer called xylazine in one of the baggies.

They followed him back to his home, across the street from the Nassau BOCCES, where they used a search warrant to raid his home a month later.

"Anthony Gianatiempo was allegedly selling poison on the streets of Westbury, dangerous compounds of drugs including fentanyl, heroin, and xylazine that are extremely addictive and deadly," Donnelly said. "A search of the defendant’s home in partnership with the Drug Enforcement Administration and Nassau County police recovered enough fentanyl to kill tens of thousands of people, and quantities of a synthetic opioid from the class of substances called nitazene, which can be significantly more potent than morphine and fentanyl and has already contributed to overdose deaths across the country."

Giantiempo faces up to 25 years in prison if convicted of the drug and explosives charges. He also faces prison time for violating the terms of his probation from his assault conviction.

His defense attorney, Guy Allen, and a man who identified himself as his brother declined to comment at the hearing.