Siblings Jemmal and Keana Bryan charged in Queens drug trafficking operation that led to fatal overdose on Long Island, DA says

A 2025 fatal overdose led Nassau County authorities to what they said was a brother-and-sister drug trafficking operation, in which the siblings, along with a team of others, allegedly sold fentanyl and xylazine, or "tranq," in Glen Cove, Massapequa, Roosevelt and other places across Long Island.

Jemmal Bryan, 42, of Jamaica, Queens, and his sister, Keana Bryan, 43, of upstate Endicott, were arrested in July and charged with multiple counts of drug trafficking after a yearlong investigation by a task force involving the Department of Homeland Security, the Nassau County police, the NYPD and county prosecutors.

The brother processed and packaged the deadly drugs in his home in Jamaica, stamping them with his unique green brand, "Bruce Banner," Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said at a Wednesday morning news conference.

Different stamps denoted different levels of potency, prosecutors charge, and Jemmal Bryan would curate the drugs depending on what his customers wanted.

"He offered advice on which mixtures of his drugs would give them the best high and which might be too strong," Donnelly said, and would sometimes ask if they "wanted to die tonight."

Authorities said that he sold bundles containing 10 envelopes of the drug or sleeves with 100 envelopes to his co-conspirators, moving 140 to 180 envelopes every two to three days, netting $75,000 over six months.

His trafficking scheme began to unravel, Nassau County Police Commissioner Patrick Ryder said, after two people overdosed on his product.

A 30-year-old Bayville man had a deadly reaction to the drugs in June 2025, followed by an overdose, this one nonfatal, by another customer a month later that led police to connect the two incidents with Jemmal Bryan's phone number and his alleged drug network.

During the yearlong investigation, authorities say they heard the brother bragging on recorded phone conversations that he "got the whole of Long Island."

He would sometimes sell the fentanyl out of a rented black Ford Explorer parked in co-defendant Jennifer Loheide's Merrick driveway, prosecutors said.

When he was warned that people were getting sick and dying from his drugs, he responded, "Nah, people love the stuff," according to Donnelly.

The district attorney said that xylazine, an animal tranquilizer, has yet to be criminalized under New York State law, and she called on state legislators to close the loophole that keeps the substance legal.

"We're losing when synthetic compounds hit the streets and our prosecutors cannot charge defendants because of an antiquated, out-of-date list of controlled substances," she said.

Recently, at the Glen Cove home of co-defendant Leo Duchnowski, 35, another fatal overdose occurred, according to Ryder. To keep authorities out of his home, Duchnowski dragged the victim into his yard before calling 911, Ryder said at Wednesday's news conference.

Jemmal Bryan pleaded not guilty during his Sept. 1 arraignment on an indictment of two counts of operating as a major drug trafficker, 24 counts of drug sales and 27 counts of drug possession, among other charges. He's due back in court on Oct. 6.

His sister pleaded not guilty on Friday to several counts of conspiracy, eight counts of drug dealing and eight counts of drug possession.

Duchnowski and Loheide, 45, were also arraigned on Friday and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy charges.

Additionally, Ian Sharkey, 38, of Middle Island, and Joseph Giunta, 76, of Seaford, were also arraigned on drug possession charges in connection with the trafficking conspiracy. Both pleaded not guilty. Giunta's lawyer Nicholas Carra declined to comment.

"He denies the charges; he's not the seller of drugs," Sharkey's lawyer, Aaron Wallenstein, told Newsday. "He intends to fight the charges. He's not a seller of narcotics."

He described his client as "an upstanding citizen" who owns a masonry business.

Duchnowski's lawyer, Adrienne Hausch, declined to comment.

Messages left for the other attorneys were not immediately returned.