Feds: Levar Jackson and Jaclyn Misuraca, of Islip Terrace, sold fentanyl from nursing home parking lot

An Islip Terrace couple who allegedly sold 270 grams of fentanyl to undercover Suffolk police officers in public locations — including outside a nursing home where one of the defendants worked — was charged with conspiracy to distribute the deadly synthetic opioid in a criminal complaint unsealed in Central Islip federal court on Wednesday.

Levar Jackson, 44, and Jaclyn Misuraca, 45, sold fentanyl to undercover officers 11 times during an eight-month period between May 2023 and January, often in broad daylight at public locations, according to court papers. During several transactions, Misuraca sold significant quantities of fentanyl in the parking lot of the nursing home where she worked.

“Upon receiving word of the UC’s [undercover officer's] arrival, she came outside the nursing home and completed the sale in the parking lot,” the court papers said. “Given how quickly these drug deals took place — often just a few hours after the UC arranged them with Jackson — it is clear that the defendants were well organized in their distribution activities and had ready access to significant quantities of fentanyl for sale.”

At an arraignment in Central Islip on Wednesday afternoon, Magistrate Judge James M. Wicks ordered Jackson held without bail. Prosecutors said Jackson has a lengthy criminal history that includes convictions for violent crimes, drug charges and weapons offenses. Misuraca was released on $75,000 bail due to medical issues.

Misuraca’s attorney, Evan Sugar of the Federal Defenders, and Jackson's attorney, Christine Delince, did not return requests for comment.

Several of the fentanyl doses sold by the defendants tested positive for xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is resistant to Narcan, a medication that reverses drug overdoses, a news release from U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Breon Peace's office said. Xylazine, known on the street as “tranq” and the “zombie drug,” can cause blackouts and kill skin tissue by burning flesh, leading to deep sores.

Fentanyl is the leading cause of fatal overdoses on Long Island and nationwide, according to law enforcement and public health officials who have warned that drug dealers are lacing counterfeit prescription drugs with it.

“The defendant chose to peddle lethal drugs simply to line his pockets with cash, in total disregard for the toll that fentanyl imposes on the safety of the community,” the court papers said of Jackson. “Here, the defendant’s drug-dealing was even more dangerous because the fentanyl had been laced with xylazine, an animal tranquilizer that is of similar potency to fentanyl, but not susceptible to treatment with Narcan, a medication that can reverse overdoses.”