Holtsville Man Indicted for Selling Fentanyl That Killed Navy Veteran Nonprofit Founder

Jaden Bholan, 24, of Holtsville was indicted this week on charges that he sold the fentanyl and cocaine that killed a 41-year-old Navy veteran who had survived four overseas deployments and founded a nonprofit to help fellow servicemembers in Suffolk County.

Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment on April 10, one day after Bholan was arraigned before Acting Supreme Court Justice Philip Goglas on April 8. The charges center on a sale Bholan allegedly made on January 20 in North Lindenhurst, which prosecutors say caused the veteran's fatal overdose. Bholan faces Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and related counts, with a sentencing exposure of 3½ to 15 years in prison if convicted.

"A Navy veteran who served four deployments overseas and spent his time back home building an organization to help fellow veterans lost his life because this defendant allegedly chose to sell him poison," Tierney said. "Even after learning of the veteran's death, this defendant allegedly kept dealing, bragging in text messages about how potent his product was."

That bragging is now central to the prosecution. Investigators say Bholan continued operating after being notified of the overdose death, and that text messages document him boasting about the strength of his supply. The case took a more urgent turn on March 27, when Suffolk County Police attempted to apprehend Bholan at his Holtsville apartment. He allegedly ran and discarded approximately eight grams of cocaine and fentanyl, two cellphones, and a digital scale. Officers recovered a third cellphone and more than $2,000 in small denominations on his person.

A search warrant executed at his apartment produced an unsecured loaded Glock handgun with a high-capacity ammunition feeding device, additional ammunition, and a digital scale. Prosecutors emphasized that the firearm was found in an area of the apartment accessible to a three-year-old child who lives there, adding child-endangerment allegations to the narcotics and weapons counts.

Justice Goglas ordered Bholan held on $300,000 cash, $600,000 bond, or $3,000,000 partially secured bond. He is due back in court on May 15, 2026, and is represented by attorney David Besso. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Nicole Felice of the Narcotics Bureau; Detectives John McGlynn and Vincent Brites of the Suffolk County Police Department's Narcotics Section led the investigation.

Tierney used the indictment announcement to push state lawmakers to pass a "Death by Dealer" bill that would create enhanced criminal penalties specifically for dealers whose drugs cause overdose fatalities. Current law allows prosecution for the underlying drug sale but lacks a statutory mechanism to charge dealers directly with causing a death, a gap the DA's office has sought to close through legislative pressure. The veteran's four combat deployments and his work building a community organization for other veterans added particular weight to that call, with local leaders and victims' advocates publicly mourning his loss and pressing for sustained enforcement against the fentanyl supply chain running through Suffolk County.