Defendant Pleads Guilty to Possessing Seven and One-Half Ounces of Heroin-10 Year Prison Sentence Expected

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Wednesday, March 21, 2018, Tysha Stevens, 23, of the City of Newburgh, pled guilty to Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, in connection with his possession on February 11, 2018, of over seven ounces of heroin. Stevens faces an agreed-on sentence of ten years in prison when he is sentenced on May 21, 2018, before County Court Judge Craig Stephen Brown.
On February 10, 2018, Town of Highlands police officers pulled over a speeding car in which Stevens was a passenger. The officers smelled the odor of burning marijuana coming from the passenger compartment of the car. When searching the car, officers found marijuana on the back seat, and also found a package containing approximately seven and one-half ounces of heroin under the front passenger seat, where Stevens was sitting.

District Attorney Hoovler thanked the Town of Highlands Police Department for their investigation of the case and for their assistance during the prosecution.

“It’s no secret that this area, and this country, are in the midst of a heroin epidemic,” said District Attorney Hoovler, “an epidemic that is destroying lives, families, communities. Too many people are addicted to heroin, and too many are dying, while drug dealers continue to rake in enormous profits from people who can’t help themselves. The heroin that this defendant possessed, without being cut by any other substance, could be packaged into more than 7,000 individual doses, with a street value of nearly $17,000. More than likely, those seven and one-half ounces of heroin would have been mixed with other substances, resulting in a far greater number of doses and a far greater illegal profit. Under my administration, we have made, and will continue to make, tremendous strides toward stemming the tide of narcotics trafficking, and the plea we announce today is just one more such effort.”

The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Matthew Healy.

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.