Freeport man charged as part of fatal OD probe, cops say

A Freeport man has been charged with selling heroin as part of an investigation into a fatal overdose last year, Nassau police said.

Anthony Howard, 33, of South Long Beach Avenue, was arraigned Wednesday on four counts of third-degree criminal sale of controlled substance and six counts of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance.

Held on $10,000 bail, Howard was represented by Legal Aid, which has a policy of not commenting in the early stages of a case.

Police accused Howard of selling heroin last month and this month, and after he was arrested on Front Street in Freeport Tuesday, authorities said they confiscated 29 grams of heroin, cocaine, quinine, drug packaging materials and pills, including what investigators believe is Tramadol, a painkiller.

He sold drugs at the Green Acres Mall in Valley Stream and also in Freeport, according to court documents, and some sales were recorded through audio and video surveillance.

His arrest came as Freeport police and the Nassau police narcotics vice squad probed the fatal heroin overdose of a male in August.

Howard has not been charged in that death, and a police spokesman did not immediately know Wednesday if the defendant was the one who sold heroin in the overdose.