OLEAN — The Southern Tier Regional Drug Task Force arrested a married Olean couple Thursday on felony drug charges — with more pending — following a lengthy investigation into alleged heroin sales.
Task force agents executed a search warrant around midnight that day at 1558 E. State St., taking twice-convicted felon Thomas Stanczykowski, 32, and wife Andrea Stanczykowski, 28, into custody without incident. They were charged with a count apiece of third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance, class B felonies.
Police announced the arrests Friday.
“Our Special Response Team executed the search warrant, entering the house and securing the house,” said task force Lt. Ronnie Lott of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office. “There were no issues there at all because we had the cover of darkness and also the show of force. Nobody was injured, and it all went well.”
Authorities allege that Thomas Stanczykowski sold heroin laced with fentanyl to a task force informant April 14 and that Andrea Stanczykowski sold heroin on an unspecified date in May. The investigation in the following months featured three more “controlled buys,” which likely will yield further felony charges in a Cattaraugus County grand jury indictment against the couple, Lott said.
“We began the investigation after receiving complaints of a lot of traffic coming in and out of his apartment,” he said. “We were able to get some controlled buys done and purchase heroin. When the lab tested the heroin, it came back as heroin laced with fentanyl. That was quite consistent. … After that, we continued to do surveillance on the location.”
Heroin mixed with fentanyl is a highly potent drug cocktail responsible for numerous overdose deaths in Western New York in recent years.
Investigators executing the search warrant seized at least 2 grams of heroin, according to a press release.
“That’s how much he admitted to, but in reality there’s probably closer to 14 grams,” Lott noted.
At roughly $200 per gram, the street value of the drugs reportedly confiscated was approximately $2,800, he added.
“They cut it up and split it up and mix it with other ingredients. That’s how they make their profit,” he explained.
Thomas Stanczykowski’s earlier state prison sentences included one to three years for third-degree criminal mischief and 18 months for fifth-degree attempted criminal possession of a controlled substance, both class E felonies, according to the state Department of Corrections and Community Supervision inmate database.
Andrea Stanczykowski was remanded to Cattaraugus County Jail in Little Valley in lieu of $10,000 bail. Thomas Stanczykowski was remanded to the county jail without bail.
Lott thanked task force investigators — including officers with the Salamanca City Police Department, Gowanda Village Police Department, Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office and New York State Police — for their efforts.
“After you do an investigation for that amount of time, it always is very satisfying when the end result comes along and obviously it goes your way,” he added. “I have to really credit the investigators that I have working under me. They just do an outstanding job. They take it very personally to take care of things like that.”
(Contact City Editor Kelsey Boudin at kboudin@oleantimesherald.com. Follow him on Twitter, @KelseyMBoudin)
