NORWICH – The female co-defendant in the $5,000 heroin drug bust – executed in the spring of 2014 – was terminated from drug treatment court and re-sentenced to prison on Feb. 6 in Chenango County Court.
Lynn M. Minck, 45, Norwich, was charged on May 28, 2014 with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree (with intent to sell), a class B felony, and criminal nuisance in the first degree, a class E felony.
Minck and her boyfriend, John A. Zangari, 51 of Norwich, were on their way back from New York City when they were pulled over by the Norwich Police Department at 5:35 p.m. last May on Rexford Street in Norwich. They were stopped and searched following a joint investigation by the NPD and the Chenango County Sheriff's Office.
It is alleged she and Zangari possessed 40 glassine envelopes of heroin in their rented Ford Focus, drugs which authorities said they intended to sell.
NPD also searched the couple's house on 28 Fair St. in Norwich. The officers found $5,000 worth of heroin in total from both their rented vehicle and their apartment. All drugs, monies and the couple's personal vehicle were seized.
Minck said she assisted Zangari in renting vehicles and driving downstate to places like Westchester or New York City two or three times a month. Zangari would purchase heroin and bring it back to Norwich to sell to local residents.
In exchange for her testimony against Zangari in any future court proceedings, Minck received a plea deal with a lesser charge and sentence.
On Nov. 10, 2014, Minck pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the fifth degree, a class D felony. She was sentenced to a split sentence of six months of incarceration at the Chenango County Correctional Facility and five years probation with drug treatment court.
On Dec. 8, 2014, Zangari pleaded guilty to the class B felony of criminal possession of a controlled substance in the third degree. Because Zangari was a predicate felon with 26 prior convictions, he was sentenced to five years determinate in the New York State Department of Corrections and one and a half years post release supervision.
