Riverhead, NY - November 17, 2017 - A 30-year-old Ronkonkoma man pleaded guilty today to manslaughter and drug possession charges in Riverhead.
The defendant James Fava of Ronkonkoma sold Bryan Gallagher of Oakdale narcotics that resulted in Bryan Gallagher’s death from fentanyl intoxication on July 18, 2016.
The investigation found text messages and other communications between the defendant and Mr. Gallagher establishing the fact that the victim purchased what he believed to be heroin from James Fava numerous times between the end of June and the day he was found dead in his home, a needle and a spoon found next to his body. He was 27 years old.
During the course of the investigation detectives learned Fava sold narcotics to Gallagher and others out of his residence on Wildwood Road in Ronkonkoma where he lived with his parents.
State Supreme Court Justice William Condon will sentence Fava to two to six years in prison on January 11, 2018. Fava will receive two to six years imprisonment on the manslaughter charge and four years imprisonment for his conviction for sale of a controlled substance in the third degree.
Speaking before the court before the defendant’s guilty plea, Mr. Gallagher’s father and sister said the family was in favor of securing a state prison sentence for the defendant to send a message to others who deal narcotics that they will be held accountable for their actions, particularly when their crimes result in death.
The Gallagher family is in the process of establishing a foundation in the victim’s name. Fava’s conviction is the first in Suffolk County history on a manslaughter charge for dealing narcotics resulting in a fatal overdose.