Suffolk Officials: Bail Failures Put Children At Risk

A drug dealer who sold THC-laced gummies that ultimately hospitalized 12 William Floyd Middle School students has become the latest example cited by Suffolk officials demanding changes to New York’s controversial bail laws.

State Sen. Dean Murray introduced legislation Wednesday that would make any crime causing physical, psychological or emotional harm to a child under 18 bail-eligible. Assemblyman Joseph DeStefano is carrying the measure in the Assembly.

The bill would allow judges to consider bail after reviewing the circumstances of each case—authority supporters say Albany’s Democratic leadership has repeatedly denied the courts despite years of complaints from police, prosecutors and crime victims.

“If we don’t realize by now that the system is broken and needs to be fixed, I don’t know what it will take,” Murray said at a Mastic Beach press conference. “The story is not just about this case. It’s about the absurd bail laws and the criminal justice system in general. They are failing our children. There is more crime under these laws; it’s happening.”

The legislation was prompted by a March 2025 incident involving students ages 13 and 14 who became sick after consuming marijuana gummies at William Floyd Middle School. A dozen students were taken to Peconic Bay Medical Center.

Prosecutors said Wilmer Castillo Garcia, a Guatemalan national who was in the country illegally, sold the gummies through Instagram. He was later arrested after allegedly selling cocaine and marijuana to an undercover officer.

Despite the seriousness of the allegations and the hospitalization of the children, prosecutors said the charges were not qualifying offenses under state law and they could not request bail. Castillo Garcia was released.

“He was dangerous and a flight risk,” Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney said. “He was charged and took off; he was getting out of Dodge.”

Castillo Garcia fled Suffolk County and was apprehended by Canadian authorities near the border. He was turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement before Tierney’s office intervened to continue the prosecution. Castillo Garcia pleaded guilty in July to third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance and endangering the welfare of a child.

“This guy’s a poster child for why we need to reform the bail laws,” Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine said. “Untie our hands. Let us go after the bad guys.”

New York’s 2019 bail reforms eliminated cash bail for most misdemeanors and nonviolent felonies. Gov. Kathy Hochul and Democratic legislative leaders have approved limited revisions since then but have resisted a broader rollback, arguing that defendants should not remain jailed simply because they cannot afford bail.

“New York’s laws should never tie a judge’s hands when a child has been physically, psychologically or emotionally harmed,” DeStefano said. “This legislation restores common-sense discretion to the courts.”

Tierney called the existing restriction “unconscionable,” saying prosecutors must be able to seek detention before a defendant harms another child or flees.

Police Commissioner Kevin Catalina agreed that courts should be permitted to consider the full circumstances of crimes against children and any potential risk to the community.

Suffolk County PBA First Vice President John Hnat called Murray’s proposal an important first step but said Albany must conduct a comprehensive reexamination of laws that have left police, victims and communities “to absorb the consequences.”

“This bill is about protecting our kids, and that shouldn’t be a partisan issue,” Murray said. “There’s no reason to automatically put suspects back on the streets where children and others can be victimized over and over again.”