Ryan Mueller, of Lynbrook, sentenced to 22 years in fentanyl death of retired officer, authorities say

A 33-year-old Lynbrook man was sentenced this week in federal court to 22 years in prison for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of a retired police officer from Elmont in December 2022, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

During sentencing on Wednesday U.S. District Court Judge Joan M. Azrack also ordered Ryan Mueller to forfeit $49,394 and two handguns. Mueller had pleaded guilty in December to distributing fentanyl that caused the death of the 49-year-old victim, whom federal authorities said died after taking counterfeit oxycodone laced with fentanyl. In a December indictment, authorities said the pressed pill was supplied by Mueller.

Mueller was indicted after a joint investigation involving the Nassau County Police Department and Homeland Security Investigations, New York.

As a result of that investigation, the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York said law enforcement officers seized "several kilos" of fentanyl from Mueller's home and, in an e-mailed statement, said they also recovered "powder dryers, blenders, and grinders," as well as pill press parts, from a storage facility controlled by Mueller.

In February, agents made an additional seizure of drugs the Drug Enforcement Administration said had been distributed by Mueller — a seizure the U.S. Attorney's Office said included "approximately 3.4 million fake pharmaceutical pills, including fake oxycodone that contained fentanyl, fake Xanax pills, over 300,000 quaalude pills and another approximately 600 grams of fentanyl in brick form."

Authorities said the seizure was the largest for fake pills ever processed by the DEA New York Division — and said it exceeded the entire division total for 2024.

The December indictment against Mueller alleged he had conspired with others to sell fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and oxycodone and said an investigation into the 2022 overdose death of an unnamed retired police officer showed fentanyl killed the victim — and found that fentanyl was "in a pressed pill made to appear to be oxycodone."

"Ryan Mueller's decision to make and distribute fentanyl laced counterpart pills resulted in the death of an unsuspecting user who thought he was taking a legitimate pharmaceutical pill," DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III said in a statement. "This tragedy is a stark reminder of the dangers that counterfeit pills have on our communities."

Also in a statement, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York Joseph Nocella Jr. said: "Mueller operated a massive and deadly fentanyl scheme. He built vending-machine-sized pill presses, possessed kilos of fentanyl and millions of fake and deadly pharmaceutical pills, and sold the fentanyl that led to the tragic loss of life of a retired police officer."

By John Valenti

john.valenti@newsday.com

John Valenti, a reporter at Newsday since 1981, has been honored nationally by the Associated Press and Society of the Silurians for investigative, enterprise and breaking news reporting, as well as column writing, and is the author of “Swee'pea,” a book about former New York playground basketball star Lloyd Daniels. Valenti is featured in the Emmy Award-winning ESPN 30-for-30 film “Big Shot.”