BRENTWOOD — A Kingston man was convicted yesterday in the first of two trials on charges he sold Oxycodone and heroin to local users.
A jury found David Pandelena, 51, formerly of Mill Road, guilty on a single count of sale of a controlled drug with intent to distribute after a four-day trial. A confidential informant working with police bought four Oxycodone pills from Pandelena for $200, according to Assistant County Attorney Scott Jordan.
Defense lawyers argued the confidential informant could not be reliable and could have planted drugs on Pandelena. He faces 3 1/2 to 7 years in state prison on the charge and is to be sentenced within 60 days.
Pandelena was arrested along with another Kingston man, Theodore Gagalis of Towle Road, in October 2006 as part of a six-month undercover investigation.
Kingston police Chief Don Briggs said the two men were major drug suppliers to users in the Kingston area. Pandelena will go to trial on seven other charges of allegedly selling heroin, prosecutors said.
"We're very happy with the verdict that was handed down and the officers involved in the case put a lot of time and effort in this particular case," Briggs said. "He was supplying many people in the area with unlawful drugs."
Pandelena may lose more than his freedom. Federal prosecutors have filed a lawsuit in U.S. District Court to seize his home and Gagalis' residence under drug forfeiture laws. The cases are pending.
The county case was prosecuted by Assistant County Attorneys Terrence O'Rourke and Alicia Piazza.
