Heroin Dealer Sentenced in Death of Lacey Man

An admitted heroin dealer will spend seven and a half years in jail in connection with the death of a Lacey resident.

Kenneth Staunton, 33, of Lacey, was sentenced in an Ocean County court room on Friday for his role in the Jan. 16, 2013 overdose death of fellow Lacey resident Raymond Farino.

Staunton pleaded guilty in November to a manslaughter charge in November.

Police had been investigating Staunton since Jan. 6, 2013, ten days before Farino's death, authorities said.

"At that time detectives were actively building intelligence on Staunton’s area of operation, clients, and his stamped product," said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office. "This would all prove significant in linking Staunton to Raymond Farino’s overdose death."

Around 2 p.m. Jan. 16, Lacey police were called to 23-year-old Farino's home in the township's Forked River section, where he found on the floor of his dining room after overdosing on heroin. Farino was not breathing at the time and had no pulse, Della Fave said, and despite efforts by paramedics to revive him using CPR, he was eventually declared dead at Community Medical Center in Toms River.

During the course of the investigation, said Della Fave, detectives located several wax paper folds containing white powder and stamped “IL CAPO” in green letters on Farino’s person. The “IL CAPO” stamped product and additional investigative evidence provided a direct link to Staunton as the dealer who supplied Farino.

Since taking office last year, Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato has been utilizing a state statute that allows prosecutors to hold drug dealers responsible for their deaths of their customers.

According to Della Fave, 112 overdose deaths were investigated in 2013, compared with 53 in 2012.