A 31-year-old Huntington man and self-identified Bloods gang member was sentenced to 27 years in federal prison Wednesday for opening fire into a crowded Southampton house party and for selling fentanyl that killed a Suffolk County customer. Joshua Crowell, known on the street as “Twiggy,” was sentenced in Central Islip federal court by U.S. District Judge Gary R. Brown following convictions for assault in aid of racketeering and distribution of fentanyl resulting in death.
According to the Department of Justice, Crowell pleaded guilty to both federal charges in October 2025, resolving a multi-count indictment that had been building against him for months. The plea closed out a case combining two of the more serious threats federal prosecutors track on Long Island: coordinated gang violence and fentanyl distribution tied directly to a death.
As the US Attorney EDNY announced alongside the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Homeland Security Investigations, and the Suffolk County Police Department, “Today's sentence sends a clear and powerful message that those who terrorize our communities with gang violence and deadly drugs will be held fully accountable for the devastation they cause.” The announcement, posted from the official account of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, tied the sentence directly to both the shooting and the overdose death.
Gunfire at a Hamptons House Party
The racketeering assault charge stemmed from an incident in which Crowell and two co-conspirators fired multiple shots into a crowded house party in Southampton, wounding three people, per the Justice Department's announcement. Court records cited by prosecutors show Crowell was originally charged in a 12-count superseding indictment unsealed in March 2025 alongside fellow Bloods associate Bruce King, 26, also of Huntington, who was accused of participating in the same shooting.
Suffolk County Police and Southampton Town Police worked alongside federal investigators to build the case, illustrating the kind of coordination that has become common in gang prosecutions on the East End. The case was investigated and prosecuted through the federal Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces framework, which brings together the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York, Homeland Security Investigations, Suffolk County Police, and Southampton Town Police.
A Fatal Overdose and Two Others Poisoned
The drug charge centered on Crowell's distribution of fentanyl in Suffolk County between 2021 and 2024, conduct that federal prosecutors say caused the fatal overdose of a male customer in June 2022. That same distribution pattern also caused non-fatal overdoses in May 2022 and June 2023, with the later victim surviving only after receiving emergency life-saving treatment.
Federal law makes fentanyl distribution resulting in death an especially serious charge. Under 21 U.S.C. § 841(b)(1)(C), distributing a controlled substance that results in death or serious bodily injury carries a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of life, according to FindLaw. That statute gave prosecutors substantial leverage in building Crowell's eventual 27-year term.
Part of a Broader Crackdown on Long Island
The Suffolk County District Attorney's Office has noted that in 2022 the county recorded more than 400 fatal drug overdoses, primarily driven by fentanyl, a toll that pushed local prosecutors and law enforcement to seek harsher penalties for dealers selling lethal doses. That statistic has shaped a broader strategy in which Suffolk County officials repeatedly partner with federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York to secure multi-decade sentences.
Crowell's case fits into an expanding pattern of federal prosecutions targeting violent Bloods gang sets across Suffolk County. Previous Eastern District of New York prosecutions of Bloods members in Central Islip have resulted in sentences ranging from 30 years to life imprisonment, reflecting a sustained push against organized gang violence on Long Island.
The sentencing follows a string of related cases making their way through Central Islip federal court. Hoodline has previously covered Bloods trafficking pleas and other gang-related sentencings, underscoring how frequently Suffolk County's fentanyl and gang violence cases have landed in federal court over the past two years.
