Cops: Ex-Bonac Star Used Neighborhood Mailboxes to Sell Heroin

A former East Hampton High School football star used his neighbors' mailboxes to sell heroin in Sag Harbor Village, police said Friday evening.

Joseph R. Dowling, 24, was arrested after East Hampton Town police detectives coordinated a buy-and-bust operation on Lighthouse Lane in Sag Harbor Village Friday afternoon. Detectives said he was "utilizing mailboxes to surrounding residences within his neighborhood for the purpose of distributing heroin to individuals in exchange for U.S. currency." He lives on nearby Brandywine Drive.

He allegedly had heroin and hypodermic needles on him. He was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell, both felonies, and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument, a misdemeanor.

This is not Mr. Dowling's first brush with the law involving heroin and cocaine. In October of 2014, he was arrested on two felony drug counts following a high-speed chase in East Hampton.

As a Pierson High School student, he played both sides of the line for the 2009 East Hampton-Pierson-Bridgehampton Bonackers, who made the playoffs for the first time since 2003. He was named all-county in his junior and senior years.

Mr. Dowling will be held overnight and arraigned in Sag Harbor Village Justice Court on Saturday morning.

The investigation is ongoing and anyone with information has been asked to call the East Hampton Town Police Department at 631-537-7575. All calls will be kept confidential.

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