Stony Brook student accused of selling meth from dorm room

An alleged methamphetamine operation inside a Stony Brook University dorm suite has put campus housing and student safety under a Suffolk County spotlight. Police say the case started with an Instagram contact, moved through two campus meetings and ended with a search at Mount Hall, 600 Circle Drive, where investigators say they found drugs and sales materials inside a student residence.

William Turri, 20, of Fairport, is accused of selling methamphetamine pills from his dorm room and using social media to arrange deals, according to prosecutors. An undercover Suffolk County police officer contacted Turri on Instagram and set up two meetings on campus, where Turri allegedly handed over pills in exchange for cash. Prosecutors said a third buy was planned for April 27, but other officers joined the operation and arrested him instead.

Suffolk County police said detectives executed a search warrant at Turri’s dorm suite at 12:04 p.m. on April 27. Investigators said they recovered methamphetamine, ketamine and items used for drug sales. Prosecutors said more than two ounces of methamphetamine had been pressed into orange pills that resembled Adderall, a method that can make a dangerous drug look like a routine prescription stimulant.

Public health warnings help explain why the packaging matters. The DEA has warned that counterfeit pills made to look like Adderall can contain fentanyl or methamphetamine, and the CDC has warned that counterfeit stimulant pills may contain illegally made fentanyl or other dangerous substances. In this case, authorities say the alleged sales were tied to social-media contact and took place on campus, not off it.

Suffolk District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said the case showed a college dorm room being used as a methamphetamine distribution hub and framed the arrest as a warning to anyone trying to target students on or near campus. The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said Turri was indicted on Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and related charges. Additional counts included criminal possession of a controlled substance in the second, third and seventh degrees, criminal sale in the fifth degree and criminal use of drug paraphernalia in the second degree.

Court reporting from April 28 said Turri’s attorney entered a denial at arraignment in Central Islip, and prosecutors said the alleged sales occurred on three occasions, all within the confines of the Stony Brook campus. Stony Brook suspended Turri as the criminal case moved ahead, leaving the university to answer a broader question that now hangs over residence halls across Suffolk County: how secure is student housing when drug trafficking moves inside it?