If Philip Seymour Hoffman was just a regular 46 year old guy who left behind a girlfriend and three kids I wonder if the NYPD would have put as much effort into finding the dealers who sold him the heroin that eventually cost him his life. I think the answer would be a resounding no. He would just be another unfortunate case. A resurgence of a deadly heroin that would be used against the dealers if they were found. I don't think anyone would have made the effort they are making now. Yesterday the NYPD arrested two men who they say sold the drugs to Phillip Seymour Hoffman the night before his death. Apparently Hoffman bought heroin from the guys a few months ago so police raided the place and found 350 heroin envelopes but they didn't have the Ace Of Spades logo on the bag. That means Hoffman probably had more than one supplier. Police continue searching for the origin and distributor of the bags that were found at the scene of Hoffman's death and have countless officers and detectives working overtime to find them. Let me know the next time they do that for someone who is not world famous. I'm glad they are taking the drugs and dealers off the street and it looks to me like if they had the overtime budget and man power to deal with every murder like this then a real dent could be made but it is only the high profile deaths that ever seem to take that course.
I was thinking the same thing, how many "non celeb" fathers, mothers, children, have been lost to an overdose and no one looked for their dealer?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry that PSH is gone, it's tragic, addiction is terrible, but his loss is not special or more powerful. It's just not.
So what...they shouldn'teven try at all?
ReplyDeleteAs far as I'm concerned even one dealer off the street is a good thing.
Agreed. It's wrong they don't do it for everybody but I'm not going to knock them doing it right this time whatever the reason
DeleteYes,the police do make every effort to get drugs that are killers off the street. There just isn't any news interest when there isn't anyone famous. Ever think of it that way, Enty?
ReplyDeleteI don't think people realize that NYC has been a virtual police state since Giuliani was mayor and Bill Bratton the new police commissioner was also his police commissioner and also did it in LA and Miami too.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree, but I also wonder if maybe they thought a celebrity would have a higher ranking dealer, so maybe busting the dealers gives them a lead to the higher ups in the overall drug ring?
ReplyDeleteI don't think I'm articulating it very well, but I hope the gist of what I'm getting at is somewhat clear.
Yes,the police do make every effort to get drugs that are killers off the street. There just isn't any news interest when there isn't anyone famous. Ever think of it that way, Enty?
ReplyDeleteI guess this is one of those times where you can possibly see something good come out of a tragedy. Yes, a man died, but because he was a celeb, that sparked an investigation that took at least two scumbag heroin dealers off the street and maybe even more.
ReplyDeleteSeven of, that's a great way of looking at it, Thanks.
ReplyDeleteHonestly, I was thinking the same thing. I know law enforcement does the best they can to get dealers off the streets, but they don't usually have the manpower or the time. The fact that a famous actor died of an OD and some of his dealers have already been found and arrested, tells me that the NYPD were given extra manpower probably overtime to nab their suspects. It's also possible that the people they arrested might have been under investigation before PSH died and this is all just timing.
ReplyDeleteOne of the dealers was a famous musician.
ReplyDelete"Robert Vineberg, one of the quartet arrested following the raid Tuesday, is a musician by trade whose worked with many top stars, including another tragic case similar to Hoffman, the late Amy Winehouse. Vineberg, a saxophone player, has also played alongside the likes of Wyclef Jean, Mick Jagger, Tom Jones and David Bowie, according to online reports" -- ROL
ReplyDeleteThanks, @aemish. Interesting that he worked with Amy Winehouse.
ReplyDeleteActually, the feds have just recently started prosecuting the crime of distribution of controlled substance resulting in death. I'm an attorney who does some federal criminal law in Kentucky and, we just had a guy sentenced to 20 years for selling heroin that resulted in death. It's actually becoming very common for jurisdictions to prosecute this crime as heroin use is exploding around the country. So...I love Enty but, this is actually being done round the country on a routine basis.
ReplyDeleteInteresting tidbit Aemish. You always have more than one dealer. everyone knows that. Hopefully his death gets some bad junk off the street. However chances are the first dealer doesn't know it's bad. They just need to roll over their suppliers. Given the chance of jail or death...Well you know.
ReplyDeleteThe real victims of the drug trade are in the Third World, not New York City.
ReplyDeleteI know I can just flip past it, but I will be so happy when no more posts are done about the amazing actor that was PSH.
ReplyDeleteThere have been news reports for the past few weeks here in NY about people in the tri-state dying from a bad batch of heroin. This report said the the police were already trying to find out where it was coming from and stopping its sale. I think about three people died from OD with similar bags near them. Not sure if this was related, but unless you are around to see local news reports, then you wouldn't know that this was probably part of a continuing or greater investigation.
ReplyDeleteI read this on cnn this morning. No disrespect to PS but he was a grown ass man who made the decision to inject that poison in his body. People- the media mostly need to stop pissing and moaning over this bullshit and full the newspace up with some REAL issues, like the growing casualties in this idiot Afghanistan war, the growing deaths in urban neighborhoods when they should probably legalize all drugs and tax the shit out of them. People are gonna get the fucking drugs if they really want them. The jails are filling up over our nonsensical laws related to drugs. Its dumb.
ReplyDeleteYes, you are correct. It is because he is a somebody that the effort is being made. But if we remember that the tragedy is symbolic and his fame can be used to good purpose, despite the circumstances, should we not focus on this instead? Haven't the number of articles on the resurging heroin epidemic increased? Is not a drug dealer off the street, who was clearly supplying to others than PSH? All resounding yeses. So.... we pay attention to PSH's tragedy to make us thing of those countless others and their families who suffer the same pain and tragedy.
ReplyDeleteSo, this piece was written by Enty-who-hasn't-been-at-law-school?
ReplyDeleteThis Enty is fast to jump to conclusions.
Another take would be that NYPD lacked resources to investigate heroin cases because the victims were mostly poor people and nobody was interested in that, because the victims had OD'ed, not been murdered, i.e. not appearing in the crime stats. Then a celebrity dies from heroin and the narc department gets finally attention, manpower and extra hours to handle cases that got no attention before.
@ Sherry & 7, np :)
ReplyDelete@D Lo, the ROL article says that the precedents in NY state dealers cannot be charged for the deaths of their customers..
Police always try to find the source of bad batches. The usual, less affluent OD's would rarely leave so much evidence behind also, I would imagine.
ReplyDeleteauntliddy is right, we only hear about the follow-up in this case because PSH was famous. There's a whole department of detectives that work this stuff day in, day out. ESPECIALLY in NYC.
Couldn't you just as easily ask how many arrests of drug dealers are made every day in NYC but don't get mentioned on websites like this beause they don't involve a famous person?
ReplyDeleteD Lo - interesting. Wonder if this could somehow become a federal case. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteEros - totally agree. World would be a better place.
I've read about the ongoing investigation into the bad batch of heroin along the East Coast, too. So in that way, the immediate arrest makes sense.
ReplyDeleteVERY interesting about the dealer's musical gig.
This is an interesting article on the uptick of heroin deaths in Pennsylvania. Laced with fentanyl, just as they think PSH's was: http://www.cnn.com/2014/01/30/justice/pennsylvania-heroin-deaths/
ReplyDeleteAnd also in New Hampshire;
Deletehttp://m.newburyportnews.com/TDNN/pm_103107/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=AOKOwlQc
Dumb question from someone who knows nothing about street drugs: Why would the product be laced with something deadly? Wouldn't that just come back to haunt the dealers? Thank you in advance for any explanation.
ReplyDelete@susan - I don't know. Perhaps the intent wasn't there and someone slipped up with too much fentanyl? Sounds like a question for Count!
ReplyDeleteLong time lurker, extremely rare poster.
ReplyDeleteI just read this blog article this morning and thought it was very interesting. It relates more to the posts yesterday/day before (re: is addition is a choice or not).
I'm not sure that I completely agree with her assessment, but I thought she had some valid points.
Sorry can't make it clicky:
http://debbiebayerblog.com/2014/02/04/phillip-seymour-hoffman-did-not-have-choice-or-free-will-and-neither-do-you-2/
@portlandgirl, thank you for that article. Very informative and interesting.
Delete@Candyland and Susan: The week before PSH death, and it was cut in to reporting on his death, I saw a news segment on the fentanyl laced dope. They say fentanyl increases the high. One junkie they interviewed said it was the only time he ever bought smack that came with a warning from his dealer.
ReplyDeleteNow why sell deadly dope? Because you are dealing with shot out junkies. They hear "great high" and they want it. "Ok he did 2 bags of this dope and died, so I'm going to do 1.5 and I should be OK." There is a never ending supply of users, so a few dying off is no big deal. Plus the news reports of the deaths is free advertising for the new brand of dope. I forget the 2 stamps on the bags they showed on the news.
Well fentanyl has an opiate-like high but is cheaper than opiates.
ReplyDeleteWhat probably happened here is that the heroin dealers mixed fentanyl powder with the heroin to increase the potency and compensate for low-quality heroin thus boosting their profit margin.
They're scumbag drug dealers--what do you expect ??
How about the flip side? How about they always investigate when that much heroin is found at a crime scene and the only reason you are remotely interested or the media even noticed is because it is related to a famous person? How about giving the people who jeopardize their lives every day the benefit if the doubt?
ReplyDeleteMuchas gracias, Count. Knew you'd know!
ReplyDeleteActually, I think it has to do with him being rich and famous but not in the way you just put it. His fame got a lot o tips called in and cops have to look into it... And the tipsters saw him withdraw money with 2 men... So they have to look into that. Your average joe doesnt go to the atm and withdraw large sums of money to hand over to his dealer. So the case did bring a lot of attention and tips and evidence the average addict doesnt leave behind. PSH left a trail to go after and not everone does that.
ReplyDeleteDM just reported that the guy who found him claims to be his gay lover. Just wow!
Bahahahaha! NYC a police state? Are you kidding me? Where do you live, sandybrook?
ReplyDeleteWow..radar online is now saying that the dude who found him, David Katz, is saying he and PSH were in a homosexual relationship.
ReplyDeleteDavid Katz says that he never said that he and PSH were in a sexual relationship and calls it a "vulgar and disgusting lie."
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ReplyDeleteI really hope the report is false.
ReplyDeleteautopsy inconclusive
ReplyDeletehttp://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/philip-seymour-hoffman-autopsy-inconclusive-more-tests-pending/2014/02/05/8ab38bf6-8e71-11e3-b46a-5a3d0d2130da_story.html
Nothing more than an NYPD publicity stunt. Since the person who died from the heroin was a celebrity, and the heroin epidemic rampant and unchecked by authorities, the police brass are using this incident to show how they are aggressively cracking down on drug dealers...right.
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ReplyDelete@Aemish, you're right the state couldn't but, the state may do the investigation then, turn it over to the feds who could, and would, proceed with charges. The state could then keep the trafficking charge they would likely have against the defendant and, the feds would get the gold ribbon, long sentence, must serve 85% fed charge. While it's true you can't be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy), you can be charged numerous charges that are all related to the same crime.
ReplyDelete@Aemish, you're right the state couldn't but, the state may do the investigation then, turn it over to the feds who could, and would, proceed with charges. The state could then keep the trafficking charge they would likely have against the defendant and, the feds would get the gold ribbon, long sentence, must serve 85% fed charge. While it's true you can't be tried twice for the same crime (double jeopardy), you can be charged numerous charges that are all related to the same crime.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteWe might as well admit it, in the eyes of the law, press, and most of America, the relevance and value of our lives is not equal to that of a respected celebrity.
this is idiotic. most dealers use the envelope given to them by their higher supplier and they usually have several of those and thus the envelope decals vary. jesus. you'd think narc cops would know a thing. i rarely buy the same brand twice but i only use the same guy.
ReplyDeleteI don't think this is that much of a case where police only look into it because he was famous. With the amount of drugs found, the timeline being easy to follow, and the death toll from the fentanyl/heroin, they're gonna investigate.
ReplyDeleteWhat annoys me is hearing about a famous person having their e-mail hacked or broken into, and the crook gets caught and gets jailtime. In my town, we had a stalker which did all manner of similar and worse stuff to a lot of people, but the police wouldn't even take a report, much less investigate.
Loved the work of PSH, but lets not bullshit one another
ReplyDelete1 thing: your very own CIA are the biggest heroin dealers on the planet, that is the main reason why your troops are in Afganistan - to protect the harvesting of the billion dollar poppy fields!
Shed as many crocodile tears as you like, hang this one dealer as high as you like - but your government (via CIA) are your biggest Horse dealers!