A Hempstead man was sentenced to 7½ years in prison after investigators recovered more than 1,100 fentanyl pills, a loaded handgun and seven scarred dogs from his home, Nassau County prosecutors announced.
Kevin Brown, 39, was sentenced July 21 by Judge Caryn Fink to five years of post-release supervision in addition to the prison term. He also received a 50-year ban on possessing animals, which prosecutors described as a lifetime ban.
Brown pleaded guilty June 4 to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance, second-degree criminal possession of a weapon and aggravated animal cruelty.
The Nassau County District Attorney’s Office had recommended a 10-year prison sentence.
“This defendant had enough fentanyl in his home to kill tens of thousands of people, but his stockpile of dangerous drugs was just the tip of the iceberg as investigators discovered a dogfighting operation and seven young pit bulls scarred and in squalid conditions,” District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
The investigation began after the Nassau County Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force became involved in a Nassau County overdose investigation in September 2024, prosecutors said.
Following months of surveillance, investigators accused Brown of making three separate narcotics sales in October 2024. Authorities executed a search warrant at his Hempstead residence in December 2024.
Investigators recovered 1,053 pills from one batch. Testing determined that 771 of those pills contained fentanyl and weighed approximately 116.8 grams.
Authorities also recovered another 84 pills, 47 of which were tested and found to contain fentanyl. Those pills weighed approximately 14.91 grams.
Ten additional pills were recovered, with one testing positive for hydrocodone. A bag containing a powdery substance tested positive for ketamine, prosecutors said.
Investigators also found a loaded 9mm Smith & Wesson handgun with eight rounds in its magazine and a second magazine containing another eight rounds.
Seven dogs were discovered in and around the property in dirty, cluttered wooden crates, according to prosecutors. Six were tethered with what appeared to be heavy chains and collars, while another dog was roaming in the backyard.
Authorities said the chained dogs had no visible access to food or water.
Investigators from the Nassau County Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the District Attorney’s Office responded to examine the property.
They allegedly found a hanging spring pole, a modified treadmill and other animal fighting equipment. Prosecutors said the equipment, along with the dogs’ living conditions, indicated that the property was being used for a dogfighting training or breeding operation.
At least one dog had an open wound. Another had intentionally cropped ears, which prosecutors described as a practice commonly associated with fighting dogs.
Three other dogs had recently healed wounds. All seven dogs, five males and two females, had scars around their muzzles and elsewhere on their bodies that authorities said were indicative of dogfighting.
The two female dogs also showed signs of having previously bred puppies.
Authorities obtained another warrant to seize the dogs and the suspected fighting equipment.
Prosecutors said the animals have since been adopted, except for one dog that was returned to an owner who was not Brown.
Brown was arrested Dec. 3, 2024, in Seaford by detectives with the Nassau County Police Department’s Narcotics/Vice Squad.
Photo: NCDA
