Hampton Library Trustee Pleads Guilty

Matthew Rojano, a Sagaponack man arrested by Southampton Town police in October on multiple drug possession charges, pleaded guilty Nov. 13 in State Supreme Court in Riverside to a single count of attempted possession of a controlled substance, a felony.

Mr. Rojano, who was elected in 2014 to the board of trustees of the Hampton Library in Bridgehampton to represent Sagaponack, was arrested on Oct. 29 along with Oscar Reyes-Torres, after police conducted a raid at 312 Sagg Road, assisted by a K-9 unit from the county sheriff’s office.

In return for the guilty plea, two more serious charges against Mr. Rojano involving possession of cocaine with intent to sell were dismissed. He will be sentenced on Jan. 25 in the courtroom of Justice Richard Ambro.

Mr. Reyes-Torres was indicted by a grand jury and was arraigned by Justice Ambro the day before. (Mr. Rojano had waived his right to a grand jury investigation.) Mr. Reyes-Torres pleaded not guilty to felony charges of cocaine possession and possession with intent to sell, as well as a felony marijuana charge of possession; police said he was caught with more than eight ounces of pot. Free on $5,000 bail, he is due back in the courtroom of Justice Martin I. Efman on Tuesday. 

Another local man who pleaded guilty recently to felony drug charges is Jose Restrepo, who was arrested along with another Springs man, Juan P. Porras, in July. Both were charged with multiple felonies related to dealing cocaine. Mr. Restrepo entered his plea on Dec. 4 and will be sentenced on Feb. 7 by Justice John J. Toomey. Mr. Porras’s case is still open. 

Both men are being held in county jail, unable to meet the bail set for them in six-figure amounts.