Carmel, NY – September 12, 2024 - Putnam County District Attorney Robert Tendy 
announced today that 30-year-old Brandon Gatling, of Waterbury, Ct., will serve six years in 
state prison with a post-release supervision period of one and a half years after pleading guilty 
to one count of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree, one count of Criminal 
Possession of a Controlled Substance in the 3rd Degree, and two counts of Criminal Possession 
of a Controlled Substance in the 7th Degree. 
Gatling was arrested on June 14, 2023, after an investigation conducted by the Putnam County 
Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit (NEU) into a fatal overdose revealed Gatling’s 
contact information in the victim’s cellular telephone. NEU investigators, acting in an 
undercover capacity, arranged for a purchase of fentanyl from Gatling to take place in Putnam 
County. Upon Gatling’s arrival, members of NEU took him into custody and recovered from 
his vehicle over 200 glassine envelopes containing a deadly heroin/fentanyl mixture, multiple 
cellular telephones, a small quantity of cocaine, and several rounds of ammunition. 
“The Putnam County Sheriff’s Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit did an outstanding job in this 
investigation,” Tendy said. “As always, they were painstaking in their work, and it resulted in 
getting off our streets someone who had no compunction bringing and selling deadly drugs into 
Putnam County. ADA Breanne Smith, who worked with them and prosecuted the case, is also 
to be commended for her around the clock efforts in bringing this prosecution to fruition.” 
Gatling plead guilty on September 3, 2024, and is scheduled to be sentenced on November 19, 
2024, by the Honorable Justice Joseph Spofford.
The investigation was conducted, and the arrest was made by the Putnam County Sheriff’s 
Office Narcotics Enforcement Unit. The case was prosecuted by First Assistant District 
Attorney Breanne Smith.