Peter 'Penthouse P' Hardie, drug dealer from Brentwood, gets 15-year sentence
A Brentwood man, who was described by officials as one of the biggest drug dealers on Long Island and was so notorious that his nickname was referenced in rap lyrics, was sentenced Tuesday, June 17, 2014 to 15 years in prison, according to officials. Credit: Department of justice
A Brentwood man described by prosecutors as one of the biggest drug dealers on Long Island with connections to notorious Mexican and Colombian cartels was sentenced Tuesday to 15 years in prison, officials said.
Peter Hardie, 34, who sources said was so notorious in the past that he was mentioned by one of his nicknames, "Penthouse P" in hip-hop artists' lyrics, was singled out by federal prosecutors at the time of his arrest as the leader of a new trend of "one-stop illegal pharmacies."
Hardie was charged in 2010 with distributing a smorgasbord of drugs, including cocaine, heroin, crystal methamphetamine, MDMA, commonly called ecstasy, and PCP, or angel dust.
Federal Drug Enforcement Administration agents and Suffolk detectives said at the time of Hardie's arrest that even large-scale drug dealers usually specialized in one or two illegal drugs.
But Mexican and Colombian cartels that traditionally supplied bulk amounts of cocaine and heroin were also trying to take over the sale of other illegal drugs and supplying quantities to Hardie and other key Long Island and metro area distributors.
"They are trying to become like one-stop illegal pharmacies, where customers can pick and choose," said Erin Mulvey, a DEA spokeswoman.
Federal prosecutor Christopher Ott declined to comment.
U.S. District Judge Joseph Bianco sentenced Hardie, who had pleaded guilty to a single count of conspiracy to distribute drugs, to 15 years in prison, followed by 5 years of supervised release. Bianco noted that he could have sentenced Hardie to more than 20 years, ticking off the quantities that were involved, including 500 kilos of cocaine, 5 kilos of heroin and 4.5 kilos of methamphetamine.
But Bianco said he was sentencing Hardie to the lesser term because he was apparently making an attempt to turn his life around since he had been incarcerated following his arrest.
Hardie was humble and contrite in court Tuesday. It was in contrast to the person who was arrested four years ago.Before he was sentenced, Hardie told the judge, "I'd like to apologize to my community for the selfish crimes that I have committed."
Hardie's attorney, Norman Trabulus, of Manhattan, declined to comment.
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