Fatal heroin overdoses lead to task force arrests, police say

Nassau County police charged three men in Levittown with drug possession and sale on Wednesday after a lengthy heroin investigation, officials said.

The Nassau/ Suffolk Heroin Task Force spent two months investigating three fatal heroin overdoses, leading them to Thomas C. Curry, 25, of Jester Lane, who police said sold heroin in the area. He sold undercover officers 312 bags of heroin and half an ounce of cocaine, police said, and was arrested at about 12:35 a.m. Wednesday.

Police also charged a man they said supplied Curry with the heroin, Brian P. Altman, 32, of Eden Lane, who they said supplied Curry with the heroin. Police said it was not clear who supplied the cocaine.

Curry was charged with eight counts of controlled substance possession and seven counts of criminal sale of a controlled substance. Altman was charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance and criminal sale of a controlled substance.

Both men were arraigned Wednesday at First District Court in Hempstead. A judge set bail at $25,000 bond, $15,000 cash for Curry, and Altman’s bail was set at $80,000 bond, $60,000 cash, according to online court records. Neither man posted bail or appeared to have an attorney.

A third man, Richard F. Smith, 28, of West 143rd Street, Manhattan, was also charged with unlawful marijuana possession as a result of the investigation. Smith was released on his own recognizance, records show.