Terrence Johnson Gets 21 Years for Fentanyl Death

Sullivan County man Terrence Johnson, 23, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for distributing a deadly mix of heroin and fentanyl that caused the overdose death of 35-year-old Malcolm Perry of Liberty, New York. The sentence, handed down in White Plains federal court by U.S. District Judge Cathy Seibel, marks a hard blow in a case steeped in repeat offenses, near-school drug sales, and a dealer’s indifference to human life.

Johnson admitted guilt on June 3, 2016, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Paul E. Davison, copping to charges that included distributing heroin and fentanyl resulting in death, selling cocaine, and peddling narcotics within 1,000 feet of elementary schools. He also pled guilty to conspiring to distribute at least 100 grams of heroin and over 280 grams of crack cocaine between 2012 and 2013 in Sullivan County.

According to court records, from May 28 to June 6, 2015, Johnson sold a heroin-fentanyl blend so potent it sent multiple buyers to emergency rooms. On or about June 1, 2015, Malcolm Perry used the mixture and died from acute fentanyl intoxication. Authorities say Johnson knew people were overdosing — even after Perry’s death — yet kept selling the same lethal product.

Preet Bharara, then U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, condemned Johnson’s actions: “Even after learning that his fentanyl-laced heroin had sent customers to the emergency room, Terrence Johnson continued to sell his poisonous blend, ultimately causing the tragic death of Malcolm Perry. For his callous crime, Johnson has received an appropriately severe sentence.”

In addition to 21 years and 10 months behind bars, Johnson was sentenced to six years of supervised release and ordered to pay a $1,000 special assessment. The case was built through joint investigative work by the FBI, the Village of Liberty Police Department, New York State Police, Sullivan County Sheriff’s Department, and the Village of Monticello Police Department, with support from the Sullivan County District Attorney’s Office.

The prosecution was led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Anden Chow, Michael Gerber, and George Turner from the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s White Plains Division. The case underscores the federal crackdown on drug dealers whose products cross the line from trafficking to manslaughter-by-narcotic.