Tierney: Alleged drug dealer indicted in connection with fatal overdose

An alleged Deer Park drug dealer has been indicted in connection with the fatal overdose of a West Babylon man last month, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney and Suffolk Police Commissioner Rodney Harrison said Thursday.

Vito Frabizio,  32, and his accomplice, Joan Mangels, 40, of Amityville, are facing multiple drug dealing charges including for selling heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to an undercover police officer several times in March.

Frabizio was remanded to be held without bail following his arraignment in Suffolk County Criminal Court Thursday. Mangels is in custody pending her arraignment April 20.

Tierney said Frabizio was arrested several times since the March 8 death of Frank Cairo, but was released because initial charges were not bail eligible. He was remanded by Judge John B. Collins following Thursday’s indictment.

“It's emblematic of what's happening right now in Suffolk County with regard to the opioid overdose crisis, the sale of fentanyl on our streets and the inherent challenges and difficulties that we in law enforcement had in prosecuting these cases,” Tierney said during a news conference in Riverhead.

Cairo, 51, was discovered by his girlfriend dead on his bed where he was attending a virtual Narcotics Anonymous meeting, Tierney said.

A text message conversation on a phone recovered at Cairo’s home revealed that Frabizio sold him two packages of drugs the day before he died, Tierney said. Cairo had said the drugs tasted funny and asked if it was baking soda. Frabizio replied that it was not and that he had more fentanyl, which he referred to as "white gas," and heroin for sale.

Officials said two bags recovered at Cairo’s home after his death contained fentanyl — a powerful synthetic opioid responsible for many of the latest overdose deaths on Long Island — and a heroin-fentanyl mixture.

Mangels, who according to a news release from Tierney’s office has no prior felony convictions, was not arrested in connection with the sale that led to Cairo’s death.

Other offenses allegedly committed by Frabizio include the March 7 sale of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine to an undercover officer in exchange for $400, authorities said. Frabizio then again sold drugs to an officer from a room at the Sayville Motor Lodge on Sunrise Highway on March 9, Tierney said.

Members of the Suffolk County Police Department kept surveillance while a search warrant was obtained for the motel room shared by Frabizio and Mangels. The search warrant turned up over half an ounce of fentanyl, cocaine, two digital scales and more than $4,000 in cash, according to the district attorney.

The pair also allegedly sold drugs to an undercover officer on March 25 following drug arrests on charges that were not bail eligible earlier that month.

Attorneys for Frabizio and Mangels did not return calls seeking comment.

By Vera Chinese

vera.chinese@newsday.com@VeraChinese

Vera Chinese covers Suffolk County government and politics. She joined Newsday in 2017 after working as an editor for the East End lifestyle publication northforker and a general assignment reporter for the New York Daily News.