District Attorney Hoovler Announces Sentences in Port Jervis Major Trafficker Case
Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced that on Wednesday, February 8, 2023, Richard McInturff, age 32, of Port Jervis, was sentenced to an aggregate term of seventeen to nineteen (17 – 19) years in state prison to be followed by five (5) years of post-release supervision in connection with his guilty plea to Operating as a Major Drug Trafficker, Escape in the First Degree and Attempted Assault in the Second Degree. His father, Larry McInturff, age 66, of Port Jervis, was sentenced to a split sentence of six months in Orange County Jail and five years of probation in connection with his guilty plea to Tampering with Physical Evidence.
On March 18, 2021, members of the Port Jervis City Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Group executed a search warrant at Richard McInturff’s residence located in the City of Port Jervis. The search warrant, which was drafted with the aid of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, was part of an investigation into the illicit sales of the narcotic drug heroin in the City of Port Jervis. Detectives recovered 7,892 packets of suspected heroin and a scale of the type commonly used to weigh narcotics when they are being packaged for sale.
During the plea proceedings, Richard McInturff admitted that he, acting as a profiteer, knowingly possessed 7,892 glassine envelopes of a powdery substance containing fentanyl/heroin, with the intent to sell them, and that the value of the narcotics exceeded $75,000. Richard McInturff further admitted to escaping from custody while at the Port Jervis police department on March 19, 2021, after having been charged with the class A felony of Operating as a Major Trafficker.
In his plea, Larry McInturff admitted that on March 20, 2021, he was speaking with son, Richard McInturff, via phone while Richard McInturff was incarcerated at Orange County Jail. At his son’s direction, Larry McInturff concealed a keyring with keys to an apartment that belonged to Richard McInturff, while knowing it would be used as evidence in the trial against his son.
“The arrest, prosecution and sentence of this defendant serves asa major disruption to the deadly narcotics trade in western Orange County,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “Drug dealers should take heed that law enforcement is laser focused on the battle against the scourge of opioids, particularly fentanyl, that are killing people every day. I applaud the dedicated and coordinated efforts of the City of Port Jervis Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Group, the Sussex County New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office and Narcotic Task Force, and the New Jersey State Police for their work on this investigation. My Office will continue our steadfast prosecution of drug dealers in order to rid our streets of these poisons.”
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory and Senior Assistant District Attorneys Matthew Healy and Christopher Kelly.
This 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.