A 2025 fatal overdose led Nassau County authorities to what they said was a brother and sister drug trafficking operation, in which the siblings, along with a team of others, sold fentanyl and xylazine or “tranq” in Glen Cove, Massapequa, Roosevelt and other places across Long Island.
Jemmal Bryan, 42, of Jamaica, Queens and his sister, Keana Bryan, 43, of Endicott, NY, were arrested in July and charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking after a yearlong investigation by a task force involving the Department of Homeland Security, the Nassau County police, the NYPD and county prosecutors.
The brother processed and packaged the deadly drugs in his home in Jamaica, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a Wednesday morning news conference, stamping them with his unique green brand “Bruce Banner.”
Different stamps denoted different levels of potency, prosecutors charge, and Jemmal Bryan would curate the drugs depending on what his customers wanted.
“He offered advice on which mixtures of his drugs would give them the best high and which might be too strong,” Donnelly said. He would sometimes ask if they “wanted to die tonight.”
Authorities said that he sold bundles containing 10 envelopes of the drug or sleeves with 100 envelopes to his co-conspirators, moving 140 to 180 envelopes every two to three days, netting $75,000 over six months.
His trafficking scheme began to unravel, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, after two people overdosed on his product.
The commissioner said that a customer had a bad reaction to the drugs in the Glen Cove home of co-defendant Leo Duchnowski, 35, in June 2025. In order to keep authorities out of his home, Duchnowski dragged the victim into his yard before calling 911, Ryder said at the same news conference. After another non-fatal overdose a month later, police connected Jemmal Bryan’s phone number to the drugs and started tracing them back to his network.
During the yearlong investigation, authorities heard the brother bragging on recorded phone conversations that he “got the whole of Long Island.”
He would sometimes sell the fentanyl out of a rent black Ford Explorer parked in co-defendant Jennifer Loheide’s Merrick driveway, prosecutors said.
When he was warned that people were getting sick and dying from his drugs, he responded “Nah, people love the stuff,” according to Donnelly.
The district attorney said that xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, has yet to be criminalized under New York State law and she called on state legislators to close the loophole that keeps the substance legal.
“We’re losing when synthetic compounds hit the streets and our prosecutors cannot charge defendants because of an antiquated, out-of-date list of controlled substances,” she said.
Jemmal Bryan pleaded not guilty on Sept. 1 during his arraignment on an indictment on two counts of operating as a major drug trafficker, 23 counts of drug sales, 27 counts of drug possession, among other charges. He’s due back in court on Oct. 6.
His sister pleaded not guilty on Sept. 4 to several counts of conspiracy, 7 counts of drug dealing and 8 counts of drug possession.
Duchnowski and Loheide were also arraigned on Sept. 4 and pleaded not guilty to several conspiracy charges.
Additionally, Ian Sharkey, 38, of Middle Island and Joseph Giunta, 76, of Seaford, were also arrested on drug possession charges in connection with the trafficking conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty.
Attorneys for the defendants could not be immediately reached.