{"id":138614,"date":"2026-02-19T11:21:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:21:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138614\/"},"modified":"2026-02-19T11:21:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-19T11:21:25","slug":"cocaine-dealer-on-staten-island-was-supporting-family-charges-overblown-defense-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/138614\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocaine dealer on Staten Island was supporting family, charges overblown, defense says"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"JDLQQ2KWVRECXHGJZYWGKWUM4Q\">STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 According to local law enforcement officials, Chad Gordon was a \u201cdangerous drug dealer.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"XFZVHHZV7VEELB54F26N55LUNA\">According to Gordon\u2019s attorney, he only dealt to his friends as a way to help support his three children. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"HFHC6JHAPJHXZOUWX67Y6FUU74\">Gordon, 42, of Clinton Place in Port Richmond, pleaded guilty Feb. 9 in state Supreme Court, St. George, to second-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance. The charges stemmed from a three-month drug investigation in late 2024 and early 2025. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"SXZNYCNS6BEQJKT4O225G22S6E\">In exchange for his plea, the defendant is scheduled to be sentenced March 11 by Justice Alexander B. Jeong to five years in prison and five years of post-release supervision. <\/p>\n<p>Several deals occurred outside S.I. Mall<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"DTL7UAWK5JCIZIWUMRPVUBKXPI\">The defendant was accused of selling cocaine to undercover detectives on eight separate occasions, primarily in Clifton and New Springville. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"K5MXAYU565FWPLUEFNDMLBUJP4\">Authorities said many of the transactions \u2014 which included weights of a half ounce and two ounces \u2014 occurred in the parking lot of the Staten Island Mall. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"FG4BGRRJYJBUDPTUH3J7CGKTVQ\">Following Gordon\u2019s guilty plea last week, District Attorney Michael E. McMahon issued the following statement:<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"XNCMVC3N6VH4ZGZRFIBYCNW6UQ\">\u201cThis defendant shamelessly peddled dangerous and illegal narcotics for profit across our borough. While Staten Island was fortunate to record significant decreases in fatal overdoses in recent years, my office will never relent in our prosecution of dangerous drug dealers who flood our borough with harmful and illicit substances.<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"TJYQ2YMWIBBQ5AVYIPZWXPJA2Y\">\u201cI commend the men and women of the NYPD for their assistance throughout the course of this investigation, and thank Assistant District Attorney Andrew Edvin and the members of the Richmond County District Attorney\u2019s Narcotics-Investigations Bureau for ensuring justice and a half-decade-long prison sentence in this case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Defense says charges overblown<img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Mark J. Fonte\" class=\"article__image-content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771500083_584_GFE6QZA3HRGOPBSC5YNUUXNUEQ.png\"  \/>In this Aug. 25, 2023 photo, defense attorney Mark J. Fonte speaks at a press conference following a judge&#8217;s ruling in state Supreme Court, St. George.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jason Paderon)<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"CKJMBE3N6NCALIAKQDZB36GINU\">Defense attorney Mark Fonte said the prosecution\u2019s characterization of his client is \u201cludicrous.\u201d <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"MAU6WTH3W5EQNDCISAK7C75D2Y\">At the time of his arrest, Gordon was \u201cworking with individuals with disabilities\u201d at a New York hospital, Fonte said. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"2XVDBI44OBEWJOVVJJLZZKQTXE\">\u201cHe made a bad decision engaging in this activity, but these were simply cocaine sales to friends,\u201d added Fonte, who also emphasized that his client \u201conly sold cocaine.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Officials issued warning about cocaine, fentanyl mix<img fetchpriority=\"low\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" alt=\"Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force\" class=\"article__image-content\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/ZPEQU2M5EBEKRGQISBRPSOTCKY.JPG\"  \/>In this Nov. 12,  2025 photo, the Staten Island Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force reveals its legislative agenda during a press conference hosted by District Attorney Michael E. McMahon at his office in St. George.(Advance\/SILive.com | Jan Somma-Hammel)<\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"OUFCCH6PDRCLDEVTER52EJBY4M\">Fonte\u2019s comments come on the heels of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/crime-safety\/2025\/11\/deadly-drug-mashups-new-mixes-the-latest-threat-in-overdose-crisis-on-staten-island.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/crime-safety\/2025\/11\/deadly-drug-mashups-new-mixes-the-latest-threat-in-overdose-crisis-on-staten-island.html\">public service announcement by the borough\u2019s Fentanyl and Overdose Task Force <\/a>regarding overdose deaths linked to cocaine mixed with fentanyl and other substances. <\/p>\n<p class=\"article__paragraph article__paragraph--left\" id=\"4GRKR36QSZGIZHOOCJVA6EMIME\">In January, a 32-year-old New Brighton man was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/crime-safety\/2026\/01\/man-sentenced-for-cocaine-fentanyl-mix-amid-ongoing-overdose-crisis-on-staten-island.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.silive.com\/crime-safety\/2026\/01\/man-sentenced-for-cocaine-fentanyl-mix-amid-ongoing-overdose-crisis-on-staten-island.html\">sentenced to eight years in prison<\/a> after a raid at his apartment yielded 1,000 glassines of a cocaine and fentanyl mixture. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. \u2014 According to local law enforcement officials, Chad Gordon was a \u201cdangerous drug dealer.\u201d According&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3956,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[9,24,63,134,136,135],"class_list":["post-138614","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-staten-island","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-nyc","tag-staten-island","tag-staten-island-headlines","tag-staten-island-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138614","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=138614"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/138614\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3956"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=138614"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=138614"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=138614"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}