A former NYPD officer was sentenced to five years in prison after pleading guilty to selling opioids to a friend who died from an overdose.
Joseph Recca of West Islip pleaded guilty to second-degree manslaughter, third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and second-degree conspiracy in the death of Ryan Bornschein.
Suffolk District Attorney Timothy Sini has also called on the state to pass legislation to increase penalties for certain drug dealers.
“The state Legislature and the governor need to sign into law a death by dealer statute. We need to send a message out that when you sell drugs and you kill people, you are held responsible for that death," Sini said.
Bornschein fatally overdosed in 2019 on fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid.
The judge said Recca violated the community’s trust as a former police officer before approving the prosecution’s plea deal.