A retired NYPD detective was among four people arrested in an alleged drug-trafficking operation that moved large quantities of narcotics from Manhattan to Staten Island, authorities said.
Shanta Sawyer, 44, described by prosecutors as the alleged ringleader, is accused of working with his wife, Sophia Abinacer, 37, Michael Giordano, 35, and former detective Philip Pietrunti, 60. Together, they allegedly supplied illegal drugs to dozens of customers across Staten Island, according to the city’s Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office.
The group was taken into custody last Thursday following a six-month wiretap investigation. Authorities also searched Sawyer and Abinacer’s home in Washington Heights, along with residences belonging to Giordano in Great Kills and Pietrunti in Eltingville.
Investigators said they found substantial amounts of fentanyl, crack cocaine and heroin in a backpack and safe at the Manhattan apartment. A pill-pressing machine was also recovered. Two young children were inside the residence during the search.
At Giordano’s home, officers allegedly discovered a small lockbox containing crack cocaine, 40 envelopes of heroin, cocaine, two scales and materials used to package drugs.
Police said they later found at least 13 unlicensed firearms at Pietrunti’s residence. The weapons were allegedly stockpiled by the retired NYPD Emergency Service Unit officer.
The investigation began to reveal the alleged conspiracy through phone calls intercepted by authorities. In one conversation on May 18, Sawyer and Pietrunti discussed a cocaine purchase that Pietrunti allegedly intended to resell.
“You can’t wait until you get off from work?” Pietrunti allegedly asked. Sawyer reportedly replied, “No, because I’m selling to someone at work.”
In late August, the two men allegedly arranged to meet at a Wendy’s to exchange cocaine and “Xannies,” a street name for Xanax. Sawyer reportedly warned Pietrunti that the pills were counterfeit.
On Oct. 2, investigators intercepted another call in which Sawyer allegedly planned to have Abinacer meet a customer for a drug exchange involving “dog food,” “G’s,” “Hard,” “Candy” and “Pebbles.” Authorities said those coded terms referred to heroin, crack cocaine and fentanyl.
Investigators said Abinacer was seen the next day arriving in Huguenot, Staten Island, to meet the buyer before returning to the couple’s Washington Heights residence.
Other intercepted calls allegedly showed Sawyer and Giordano arranging to sell cocaine and fentanyl to another customer at Giordano’s Great Kills home.
Police later observed the customer pull up outside the residence. Giordano allegedly walked out and leaned into the vehicle before Sawyer left the house, investigators said.
“The defendants involved in this takedown are alleged to have participated in a multi-borough criminal conspiracy that sought to flood our borough with dangerous narcotics, including large quantities of fentanyl, heroin and oxycodone,” Richmond County District Attorney Michael McMahon said in a statement.
“One of the defendants, Philip Pietrunti, a Staten Islander and retired NYPD Emergency Service Unit member, is accused of amassing a small army’s worth of illegal firearms, jeopardizing our borough’s public safety and betraying his oath to protect the community he once served.”
The recent arrests were not Pietrunti’s first encounter with the criminal justice system.
In 2015, he was accused of firing a gun at an excavator over a dispute involving a construction company where he had previously worked. It was reportedly his third arrest that year, according to the Staten Island Advance.
The four defendants appeared in Manhattan Criminal Court on Friday. Sawyer’s bail was set at $250,000, while Pietrunti was ordered held on $100,000 bail.
Abinacer and Giordano were released without bail, police said.
“This six-month investigation is a reminder of the NYPD’s relentless efforts to get guns and drugs off our streets,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch said.
“These defendants flooded Upper Manhattan and Staten Island with dangerous drugs, but thanks to the tireless work of NYPD investigators, this trafficking network has been shut down for good. We appreciate the Special Narcotics Prosecutor’s Office and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office partnership in making our communities safer.”
