Recidivist Westchester County Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 292 Months In Prison For Distributing Fentanyl That Killed A Man, Conspiring To Distribute Crack Cocaine, And Possessing Ammunition

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced today that PERRY FREEMAN was sentenced to 292 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Kenneth M. Karas for distributing fentanyl that resulted in the death of a Westchester County resident, conspiring to distribute crack cocaine, and illegally possessing ammunition. On February 11, 2026, FREEMAN pled guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause. “Perry Freeman, a recidivist drug dealer, sold fentanyl to a victim who died shortly after taking the drugs,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “This Office will not rest until the public is safe and that those who peddle this poison have been brought to justice, as Perry Freeman now has.” According to the charging documents and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings: On or about November 10, 2021, FREEMAN sold fentanyl to his victim, a 37-year-old man. Shortly thereafter, the police responded to a report of a burning car in a parking lot in the Town of Mohegan Lake, New York, approximately a three-minute drive from FREEMAN’s apartment building. They found a Ford Focus on fire; the victim was in the driver’s seat with his foot on the accelerator pedal. After the fire department put the fire out, the victim—who was dead—was pulled out. Investigators determined that the car had caught fire after overheating while the accelerator pedal was depressed for an excessive period of time while the car was in park, i.e. , while the victim was passed out in the driver’s seat with his foot on the pedal. The Westchester County Medical Examiner’s Office, which is part of the Westchester Department of Laboratories and Research, performed an autopsy on the victim. The victim had lethal levels of both fentanyl and norfentanyl (a metabolite of fentanyl) in his blood, and there was some darkening of the victim’s lungs, which indicated smoke inhalation before his death. The victim’s cause of death was certified as both acute fentanyl intoxication and accident. In addition, FREEMAN conspired to distribute crack cocaine over a period of years and possessed five shotgun shells in his apartment despite being prohibited from doing so due to multiple prior felony convictions, including convictions for narcotics offenses in 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2022. * * * In addition to the prison sentence, FREEMAN, 40, of Mohegan Lake, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release. Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding investigative work of the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Yorktown Police Department for their assistance in the investigation. The case is being handled by the Office’s White Plains Division. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Michael D. Maimin and Ben Arad are in charge of the prosecution.