James Tunstall, Westbury drug dealer, on trial in heroin overdose death

A Westbury man who admitted in court to selling heroin in October 2018 was also responsible for an overdose death in Jericho, federal prosecutors alleged at the start of a jury trial in Central Islip Wednesday.

James Tunstall, 47, of Westbury, previously pleaded guilty to one of two counts in the indictment against him, admitting to his role in a conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. A jury is now tasked with deciding if Tunstall is also guilty of the second charge, distributing a controlled substance causing death, in relation to the Oct. 29, 2018, heroin overdose of Niko Alvarez, 24, of Jericho.

Tunstall, who has already been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison following his guilty plea, could spend the rest of his life behind bars if convicted of the second charge.

Central to both the prosecution and the defense will be the testimony of Jay Tenem, a co-conspirator and former addict who prosecutors said served as a deliveryman for Tunstall on the day the allegedly fatal dose of heroin was sold.

“Niko Alvarez and Jay Tenem didn’t know each other, but [Tunstall] knew them both and he brought them together for his own profit, with tragic consequences,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Alessi said in her opening statement before United States District Court Judge Joan Azrack.

Alessi said Tenem, whose testimony for the government began late Wednesday and is expected to conclude Thursday, would make deliveries for Tunstall in exchange for cocaine and heroin to satisfy his own drug habit..
But defense attorney Peter Brill of Hauppauge argued in his opening remarks that if Tenem “broke off a piece” of the drugs for himself, given the limited amount of drugs alleged to have been sold, there would be “nothing left over.”

“Alvarez could not have used those drugs,” Brill told the jury.

Tenem, of Syosset, testified Wednesday that he cooperated with investigators since his arrest on the day Alvarez died and spent 34 months in the Nassau County jail before he pleaded guilty to both counts in the indictment against him and Tunstall. He said he hopes that given his cooperation and his ability to remain sober he is ultimately sentenced to time served.

On Wednesday, prosecutors listened to the frantic 911 call Alvarez’s mother made in the immediate aftermath of finding her son’s lifeless body. His mother, Monique Sellis of Jericho, testified Wednesday along with a Nassau County detective and a woman Alvarez briefly dated, who was the last person to see him alive.

Speaking to Newsday following her testimony, Sellis described her son as a “great kid, who always rooted for the underdog.” She said he looked to help people with substance abuse issues despite his own struggles.

“Life is never the same after the loss of a child,” Sellis said. “You lose a piece of yourself.”

The case is being prosecuted by Alessi and fellow Assistant U.S. Attorney Justina Geraci. Tunstall is represented by Brill and Carl Irace of East Hampton. The trial could conclude as soon as Friday, prosecutors told Azrack Wednesday.

By Grant Parpan

grant.parpan@newsday.com@GrantParpan

Grant Parpan covers Suffolk County courts and federal courts for Newsday. A Long Island native, he joined Newsday in 2022.