Upstate New York Democrat Legislator Anthony J. Arquiett, 56, was arrested earlier this month on cocaine possession and intoxicated driving charges, marking the second Democrat politician in St. Lawrence County to be charged with cocaine possession in a year.
Arquiett, a St. Lawrence County legislator, was involved in a two-vehicle crash on December 4, according to NNY 360. The legislator allegedly told an officer, “I was heading home and I had too much to drink.” The officer searched Arquiett and allegedly found 2.5 grams of cocaine and two dextroamphetamine sulfate pills, NNY 360 reports.
His lawyer, Ed Narrow, told the New York Post that the legislator is due in court in January and he intends to plead not guilty. Narrow added that his client will not resign his seat in the legislature.
“It is a disgrace that Arquiett refuses to resign and that fellow elected Democrats are silent,” Rep. Elise Stefanik (R) of New York’s 21st District told the Post.
Experts say drugs in northern New York have been a growing problem.
“I run the county jail and I gotta tell you, 60 to 80 percent of the inmates I have, have some sort of a drug issue,” Franklin County Sheriff Kevin Mulverhill told The Post. “Now that we are getting over the opioid epidemic, cocaine seems to be filling in the gap.”
The incident comes about a year after then-mayor of Messena Village Tim Currier was arrested by the St. Lawrence County Sheriff’s Office (SCSO) on December 1, 2020, according to a release from the sheriff’s office. While attempting to evade police, he was allegedly “observed by Detectives throwing approximately one gram of crack cocaine out his passenger window,” the release states.
After being arrested at gunpoint, Currier, who formerly served as Messena’s police chief, was charged with possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence, and failure to comply with an officer.
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This is an excerpt from the New York Post.
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