DA David Hoovler Announces
Guilty Plea in Port Jervis Narcotics Case
Defendant Admits Possessing 123 Glassine envelopes of Fentanyl with
the Intent to Sell Them
Goshen, NY – Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Thursday, January 13, 2022, Dashell Powlus, 24, of Port Jervis, pled guilty in Orange County Court before Judge Hyun Chin Kim to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, in connection with fentanyl which was recovered during a search warrant executed at Powlus’ Port Jervis apartment on April 30, 2021.
Powlus had been the subject of an investigation by the City of Port Jervis Police Department into the sale of heroin. On April 30, 2021, the City of Port Jervis Police Department, aided by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office’s Special Operations Group, executed a search warrant at Powlus’s apartment on East Main Street, in the City of Port Jervis. At that time police officers recovered 123 glassine envelopes of fentanyl, a digital scale, additional glassine bags as well as money. An Orange County grand jury charged Powlus with Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree for possessing the fentanyl with the intent to sell it, as well as with selling narcotics on April 27, 2021, and April 28, 2021. At the time Powlus pleaded guilty, he admitted that he was intending on selling the fentanyl that was recovered from his apartment.
Powlus faces up to twelve years in state prison when he is sentenced on March 17, 2022. Powlus remains remanded in the Orange County Jail without bail due to his having been on parole at the time he is alleged to have committed the crimes charged in the indictment.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked the City of Port Jervis Police Department for their investigation and their arrest of Powlus, as well as the Orange County Sheriff’s Special Operations Group for their assistance in the search warrant execution.
“Overdoses killed well over one-hundred Orange County residents last year,” said District Attorney Hoovler, “and there is no single drug killing more people in Orange County than fentanyl. I commend the City of Port Jervis Police Department, and all our law enforcement partners, for their untiring efforts to stop those who are selling these lethal substances.”
The case is prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory.
A criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.