DA Hoovler Announces Middletown Dealer Anthony Pittman Sentenced to Five-Year Prison Term

Anthony Pittman, 38, of Middletown, was sentenced in Orange County Court on Monday, February 2, 2026, to five years in prison to be followed by three years of post-release supervision after a previous guilty plea to Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree. The sentence was announced by the district attorney’s office as part of its ongoing narcotics enforcement messaging.

The county announcement supplies the charge and the sentence but offers few other particulars about the underlying conduct. No plea date, description of the alleged sales, quantity or type of controlled substance, arresting agency, or the name of the prosecuting attorney were included in the public text. Those omissions leave open several routine court-record follow-ups, such as the docket entry for the plea, the sentencing judge’s remarks, and whether any victim impact statements were submitted.

The sentence follows a pattern of stiff penalties publicized recently by the district attorney. In a separate case, Tarrell Hicks, 33, of New York City, pleaded guilty in April 2024 to Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Second Degree and was later sentenced to ten years in prison with five years of post-release supervision on July 24, 2024. Assistant District Attorney Alexis Gregory prosecuted that case. In the Hicks announcement, District Attorney David M. Hoovler framed the result in broad terms: “This decade long sentence is a testament to our relentless pursuit of those who seek to poison our communities with illicit drugs,” and added, “We simply will not tolerate the exploitation of our neighborhoods for profit, and we will hold accountable all who choose to engage in such reprehensible behavior. I commend the City of Middletown Police Department for their unwavering dedication to protecting our community and their collaboration with my Office has been instrumental in the ongoing efforts to dismantle drug dealing networks in Orange County.”

Another related case involved Leslie Neilson, 34, of Middletown, who pleaded guilty on May 6, 2025, to Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree and received a seven-year prison sentence to be followed by three years of post-release supervision; an additional concurrent seven-year sentence was imposed on August 26, 2025. Those matters were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorneys Bryan Conway and Cassidy Turi, and the office thanked both the New York State Police Violent Gangs and Narcotics Enforcement Team and the City of Middletown Police Department for their investigations. In that release Hoovler said, “Every day, brave police officers conduct drug interdictions to make and keep our communities safe,” and added, “This thankless and often dangerous work is done because of the peril these poisons pose to our neighborhoods. My Office supports these investigations and will seek to hold accountable anyone who chooses to sell drugs in Orange County. Let this case, like the many similar cases before it, serve as an example and a warning to those who seek to profit in the narcotics trade.”

The district attorney’s prior releases also included the office’s standard legal disclaimer about the presumption of innocence: “This criminal charge is merely an allegation that a defendant has committed a violation of the criminal law, and it is not evidence of guilt. All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the State of New York’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.”

For Middletown residents, the Pittman sentence is another data point in the county’s visible strategy of prosecuting narcotics cases aggressively. Readers seeking more detail can consult court records or contact the Orange County Court clerk for the docket on Pittman’s case to learn the factual statement submitted at plea, the sentencing judge, and any conditions imposed during post-release supervision.