Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta, and City of Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden Announce Arrest in Narcotics Sale Case
Port Jervis Man Charged After Four Month Investigation
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler, Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta, and City of Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden announced that Felix A. Pena, 27, of Port Jervis, was arrested and charged with Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree and two counts of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the ThirdDegree. Pena was arraigned in the Centralized Arraignment Part and remanded to the Orange County Jail without bail.
As alleged in charging documents filed in court, on April 12, 2023 at approximately 7:42 pm in the City of Port Jervis, Pena offered to sell twenty (20) grams of fentanyl for US currency. When he was arrested, Pena possessed approximately twenty-three (23) grams of fentanyl and a quantity of cocaine. The arrest was the culmination of a four-month long investigation conducted collaboratively by the City of Port Jervis PoliceDepartment, the Orange County Drug Task Force, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, and the Hudson Valley Crime Analysis Center.
District Attorney Hoovler thanked all of the law enforcement agencies for their investigation and the arrest of Pena.
“Fentanyl is a deadly poison whose distribution must be stopped before it can kill its users,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “It is only through the joint and dedicated efforts of the various law enforcement agencies that drug dealers can be held to account for their actions. Through narcotics enforcement actions such as this one, my Office reaffirms our commitment to rooting out the dangers that lurk in our communities. I thank the law enforcement officers involved in this arrest for their tireless efforts.”
“The results of the joint efforts of the Orange County Drug Task Force and the City of Port Jervis Police Department may have potentially saved the lives of many people,” said Orange County Sheriff Paul Arteta. “They successfully removed illegal drugs from our community and eliminated the possible sale of this dangerous substance. I will continue to provide our county-wide Drug Task Force with the resources they need to conduct operations like this for the safety of our residents.”
“We continue our unending work to rid our community of these dangerous, highly addictive narcotic drugs,” said City of Port Jervis Police Chief William Worden. “By utilizing our partnerships with the Orange County Drug Task Force and Orange County District Attorney’s Office, we will relentlessly pursue any person who sells narcotic drugs in the Port Jervis area.”
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Janine Kovacs.
Anyone with information regarding drug trafficking in and around Port Jervis is urged to call the City of Port Jervis Police Department TIPs Line at 845-858-4003.
A criminal charge is merely an allegation by the police 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.