Manslaughter charges against an alleged drug dealer who officials said was caught on video shooting heroin into a homeless buyer who later died are part of a law enforcement effort to crack down on the local drug trade, Nassau District Attorney Kathleen Rice said Wednesday.
"We're pushing the envelope on these cases," she said. "We're investigating them thoroughly, and hold people accountable."
Investigators said Edward Plakstis of Hicksville was caught on surveillance video shooting up Thomas Callahan, 42, before dawn last May.
Rice and legal experts said the Plakstis case is different from most because the alleged crime was caught on video. Such cases are typically hard to prosecute because the injection happens in private and there are either no witnesses or reluctant ones because they too are drug users, experts said.
At a news conference Wednesday, Det. Sgt. Richard Laursen said Plakstis, 26, injected Callahan and a male friend, 41, with their consent after they purchased the narcotic.
When the friend awakened, he found Callahan unresponsive and asked someone to call 911.
After cops responded around 4:20 a.m., Callahan was pronounced dead at the scene, Laursen said. The county medical examiner found heroin contributed to his death.
Detectives said the friend, who was not identified, did not cooperate with investigators.
Laursen said Plakstis was a low-level drug pusher who was dealing to support his own habit. Criminal records show Plakstis has been convicted at least five times of misdemeanor petty larceny charges, serving jail time for that and for criminal possession of a controlled substance.
His arrest Wednesday comes as Long Island law enforcement agencies enact initiatives to crack down on the local heroin trade and stem the rise in its abuse.
This month, Suffolk authorities seized the biggest shipment of uncut heroin in the county's history - 17 pounds. Nassau County convened a summit last month to spread the message about the hazards of heroin and develop strategies to eradicate its use.
Nassau had 46 heroin deaths last year, the most to date. In Suffolk, heroin-related deaths have hovered around 46 for the past four years.
From 2005 to 2008, Nassau saw a 91-percent spike in arrests on heroin-related charges, while Suffolk had a 126-percent surge.
"They need to know, drug dealers, that we are actively searching for the sources of any drug overdoses," Laursen said. "If it's determined that they assisted them in the injection and it caused the death, we're going to charge them with manslaughter."
Plakstis was arrested Wednesday and charged with second-degree manslaughter and two felony counts of criminal injection of a narcotic drug, prosecutors said. The law makes it illegal for a person to inject someone consensually with a narcotic drug that he or she possesses illegally.
To make the case, prosecutors will need to prove that Plakstis knew something about the drugs was unusual, or that the person he injected was somehow especially vulnerable, said Martin Adelman, former president of the state Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. "People inject illegal drugs every day and don't die," he said.
Plakstis pleaded not guilty at his arraignment in Nassau First District Court in Hempstead and was ordered jailed without bail, police said. He was represented by an attorney from Legal Aid. Plakstis is due in Nassau County Court Friday. Efforts to reach his relatives by phone were unsuccessful.
