Nesconset mom 'major player' in drug ring

A Nesconset mother of two was charged Tuesday by federal agents with illegally dealing prescription painkillers that give a heroin-like high.

Joanne Connelly, 48, of 167 Southern Blvd., Nesconset, headed a ring in the Smithtown area that specialized in trafficking in the drug, roxicodone, officials said.

Connelly may have "the trappings of suburban life," but she had attempted to sell the drug to an undercover agent, shortly after she dropped her children at school, Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Ott said.

She was arraigned in federal court in Central Islip late Tuesday on a charge of knowingly and intentionally distributing a controlled substance with others. If convicted, she faces 30 years or more in prison.

She "is a major player, one of the largest suppliers . . . suppliers to other lower-level dealers," said Ott.

Her attorney, Michael Young, of Manhattan, said in court that the government was exaggerating the extent of his client's drug dealing, if any, and said in court that, "all of a sudden, this woman is being turned into the drug kingpin of Long Island."

But Ott replied that DEA agents had made several drug buys from Connelly, and the investigation was continuing.

While saying Connelly was charged with "a very, very serious crime," U.S. Magistrate E. Thomas Boyle released her on $500,000 bail, saying she had no previous criminal record and strong community ties.

Roxicodone has started replacing OxyContin as the drug of choice among addicts since the latter was reformulated so it could it could no longer be crushed to give an instant high, officials said. Experts said heroin and oxycodone have similar effects and are highly addictive, and often heroin users begin their drug use with these types of prescription painkillers.

Roxicodone contains the same narcotic, oxycodone, but it can be crushed to have an almost instant effect, according to court papers. The federal investigation into Connelly began in November when she agreed to sell 100 roxicodone pills to an undercover officer for $1,200 at a Dunkin' Donuts on Main Street in Smithtown, according to federal court papers. She told the undercover officer that she could regularly sell him 100 additional pills a week, the court papers said.

Later on that November day, when she returned to the parking lot of the Dunkin' Donuts, Connelly told the undercover that she only had 95 roxicodone tablets in a bottle of pills she was about to hand over, so she also placed $60 in cash in the bottle to make up for the five missing pills, the papers said.

Two weeks later, in December, Connelly sold the undercover 100 more roxicodone pills for $1,200 in the Dunkin' Donuts parking lot, according to the court papers.

Two of Connelly's dealers have been cooperating with agents, court papers said. One was wearing a recording device on Dec. 14 when they both went to Connelly's home and purchased what she said was 70 roxicodone pills from her, according to court papers.

The DEA laboratory has not completed the analysis of those pills. But if they test positive for the drug, that could lead to a significant increase in prison time for Connelly if she is convicted of distributing a drug.

Connelly's home is 700 feet from the Great Hollow Middle School. Federal law provides for additional penalties for the sale of drugs within 1,000 feet of a school, court papers said.

Under suggested federal sentencing guidelines, if convicted, Connelly could theoretically face up to 30 years in prison for selling the drug, but another 30 years for trafficking within 1,000 feet of a school, Ott said.

Magistrate Boyle noted, reading a pretrial services report, that Connelly appeared to be addicted to oxycodone herself after suffering an accident years ago. He recommended she get drug counseling.

With Stacey Altherr