Orange County News
 For Immediate Release                                                                        Contact: Christopher Borek
March 21, 2021 845.291.3276, 845.238.4245c

District Attorney Hoovler Announces Indictment  

in Port Jervis Major Trafficker Case

Port Jervis Man Charged with Operating as a Major Trafficker for directing a Controlled Substance Organization that sold more than $75,000 worth of  Heroin and Fentanyl in One Year

Defendant who faces 25 Years to Life in Prison 

Port Jervis Police Department assisted by Orange County Sheriff’s Special Operations Group Seize 7,658 packets of suspected Heroin in Search Warrant Execution

Orange County District Attorney David M. Hoovler announced on Wednesday, March 31, 2021, that Richard McInturff, Age 30, of Port Jervis,  was arraigned before Orange County Court Judge Hyun Chin Kim on an indictment charging him with the crimes of  Operating as a Major Drug Trafficker, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree, Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, and Criminal Use of Drug Paraphernalia in the Second Degree. 

On March 18, 2021, members of the Port Jervis City Police Department and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Group executed a search warrant at McInturff’s residence located in the City of Port Jervis.  The search warrant, which was drafted with the aid of the Orange County District Attorney’s Office, was part of an investigation into the illicit sales of the narcotic drug heroin in the City of Port Jervis. Detectives recovered 7,658 packets of suspected heroin and a scale of the type commonly used to weigh narcotics when they are being packaged for sale (7,658 packets). 

McInturff was charged in the indictment with the class A-1 Felony of Operating as Major Trafficker. It is alleged that McInturff acted as the “director” of a “controlled substance organization,” which between March 18, 2020 and March 18, 2021, sold controlled substances, including heroin and fentanyl, and that the sales from those controlled substances were in excess of $75,000 in that one-year period.  It is alleged that McInturff directed the actions of others involved in the controlled substance organization. In 2009, New York enacted the crime of Operating as a Major Trafficker to more severely penalize what the Legislature referred to at the time as “drug kingpins.”  McInturff faces up to 25 years to Life in prison if convicted.

Bail was set in the amount of one million dollars cash, or two million dollars secured bond, or three-and one-half million dollar partially secured bond.  At the District Attorney’s Office request a examination of the bail has been ordered in the event that McInturff attempts to post bail.

McInturff is next scheduled to be in court on April 21, 2021.

“While those who are addicted to drugs need and deserve our compassion and assistance, those who profit from selling these frequently lethal substances deserve punishment, particularly those who sell large quantities for profit,” said District Attorney David M. Hoovler. “I commend the City of Port Jervis Police Department, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office Special Operations Group, the Sussex County New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office and Narcotic Task Force, and the New Jersey State Police for their work on this investigation. This is a very significant seizure of narcotics, one of the largest in the history of Port Jervis and underscores the magnitude of the opioid epidemic.”

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory and Senior Assistant District Attorney Matthew Healy.