Suffolk County District Attorney Timothy D. Sini has announced the sentencing of a Manhattan man for selling heroin and cocaine.
“My administration has made it clear that we are going to seek stiff penalties for anyone dealing drugs in our community, which is one of many strategies we’re employing to get this poison off our streets,” District Attorney Sini said. “This is an individual who was not only selling drugs, but allegedly attempted to avoid facing the consequences of those actions with a scheme he tried to pull on the Court. Clearly that scheme did not work, and he was convicted by a jury and fittingly sentenced to the maximum possible prison time in this case.”
Devon Lewis, 35, was convicted by a jury on Nov. 13, 2020, of six counts of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony, and six counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B felony. He was sentenced yesterday by Suffolk County Court Judge Timothy Mazzei to the maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
In September 2019, Lewis sold quantities of heroin and cocaine to an undercover police officer on three occasions. The sales occurred in the Wyandanch area near a house where Lewis previously resided.
A search warrant was executed at the residence on Sept. 25, 2019, by the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and the Suffolk County Police Department’s Narcotics Section, First Precinct Special Operations Team and Emergency Service Section, which resulted in Lewis’ arrest.
The jury trial against Lewis began on Sept. 17, 2020, and closing arguments were expected to occur on Sept. 24, 2020. However, on Sept. 23, 2020, Lewis provided the Court with a photograph of a document purporting to show that his wife, Blair McDermott, who had been present for the duration of the trial, had tested positive for COVID-19 that day. A determination was made to suspend the trial and resume after McDermott received a negative COVID test.
A virtual conference on the case was held on Oct. 1, 2020, during which Lewis affirmed to the Court that he and McDermott were quarantining in their residence in Manhattan. On Oct. 14, 2020, Lewis’ defense attorney submitted to the Court a photograph of a document provided by Lewis purporting to show that McDermott had tested positive for COVID again on Oct. 8, 2020.
The trial resumed on Nov. 12, 2020, following McDermott’s receipt of a negative COVID test.
An investigation by the District Attorney’s Office revealed that McDermott had allegedly altered the documents submitted to the Court to show positive COVID test results when she had in fact tested negative. McDermott also allegedly altered the date of the initial COVID test, which had been administered on Sept. 17, 2020.
Pursuant to the investigation, a search warrant was executed on Lewis’ cell phone immediately following his conviction, which revealed evidence that Lewis and McDermott knowingly provided the false documents to the Court. The cell phone analysis also revealed that during the time period in which the defendants purported to be quarantining at their residence in Manhattan, they had in fact traveled to various locations in New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland, including visiting several hotels and casinos.
Additionally, in August 2020, Lewis provided the Court with a doctor’s note stating that he had asthma and therefore any jail sentence imposed during the coronavirus pandemic would be a health risk. The investigation found that the doctor’s note was forged.
In connection with these allegations, Lewis and McDermott, 36, are each charged with two counts of Forgery in the Second Degree, a class D felony; two counts of Offering a False Instrument for Filing in the First Degree, a class E felony; and two counts of Criminal Contempt in the Second Degree, a class A misdemeanor. Lewis is also charged with Forgery in the Third Degree, a class A misdemeanor. Those charges are still pending.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Emma Pearce and Robert Archer, of the Narcotics Bureau.
A criminal charge is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.