Marlon Thompson, of Selden, sentenced to 30 years in overdose death of Freddy Koenig

A federal judge sentenced a Selden man to 30 years in prison for selling fentanyl to an electrician who overdosed and died at his family's Selden home over the Christmas holiday in 2018, prosecutors said Tuesday.

U.S. District Judge Joan M. Azrack sentenced Marlon Thompson, 42, of Selden, who was convicted in 2022 for distribution of fentanyl, conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and being a felon in possession of firearms in the overdose death of Freddy Koenig, 36, of Selden, a licensed electrician who struggled with an opioid addiction.

“First of all, it took us a long time to get here, but I'm so very happy we were able to get justice for my son because there's a lot of parents that don't get this kind of justice,” said Koenig's mother, Denise Koenig, of Ridge, who thanked the judge and prosecutors by name. “At least now my family can move on and just remember the good times with my son.”

According to the jury verdict, Thompson conspired to distribute fentanyl, heroin and cocaine in Suffolk County from January 2017 through May 2019.

On Christmas Day in 2018, Thompson supplied fentanyl to Freddy Koenig, who suffered a fatal overdose at his parents’ home in Selden. In the months following Koenig's death, Thompson continued selling fentanyl, heroin, and crack in Suffolk, the jury found.

Authorities found fentanyl and drug packaging materials in Thompson's basement bedroom at the time of his arrest, and also seized three illegal guns, including a sawed-off shotgun, and ammunition from Thompson’s storage unit, prosecutors said.

Law enforcement also seized thousands of dollars of bundled U.S. currency that prosecutors said was derived from the drug sales. Evidence submitted at trial showed Thompson texting with other drug dealers and discussing their illicit business, prosecutors said.

“Today, Thompson was held accountable for the large quantities of fentanyl he distributed all over Suffolk County which had a devastating impact on the community, including the tragic poisoning death of a young man on Long Island,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace, of the Eastern District of New York, which includes Long Island and Brooklyn. “This Office, together with our federal and local partners, will continue to work tirelessly to prosecute those who contribute to this epidemic.”

Asked to describe her son for readers who had never met him, Denise Koenig said: “He was a kindhearted person. He loved his family, he loved his friends.”

She said she told the judge a story at Thompson’s sentencing that spoke to the character of her son, who was unmarried and had no children but “doted over” his five nephews and one niece.

“There was one time where Freddy had gone to rehab at St. Charles, and when he came home, his suitcase was empty,” Denise Koenig said. “And I asked him what happened to all his clothes. He said to me, 'people had showed up there with just the clothes on their back,' so when he was leaving, he handed out his clothes to everybody so they would have a change of clothes. That was the type of person he was.”

By Nicole Fuller

nicole.fuller@newsday.com@NicoleFuller

Nicole Fuller is Newsday's senior criminal justice reporter. She began working at Newsday in 2012 and previously covered local government.