For More Information Contact:
Drug Task Force Coordinator Detective Sergeant Adam D. Harris
Dutchess County District Attorney Anthony P. Parisi
The Dutchess County District Attorney’s Office Drug Task Force has been conducting ongoing investigations into dangerous narcotic dealers in Dutchess County.
During the course of this investigation Drug Task Force Agents began purchasing large quantities of cocaine and dangerous drugs from two separate dealers. These dealers were identified as Terence Whitted, age 49 and Deon T. Elting, age 35, who were selling narcotics at various locations in the Poughkeepsie area.
On 02/18/2025 members of the Dutchess County Drug Task Force and the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office Emergency Services Unit (SWAT), with additional assistance from multiple agencies, conducted simultaneous raids in the City of Poughkeepsie executing search warrants at a residence on Marshall Street and a residence at the Poughkeepsie Commons Apartment Complex. The search warrants resulted in the seizure of large quantities of cocaine, as well as crack cocaine, fentanyl, packaging for sale, scales, U.S. currency and two vehicles. The following individuals were charged with the following:
Deon T. Elting – Arrested at his residence on Marshall Street in the City of Poughkeepsie
(1) Count of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance 1st Degree, a Class A-1 Felony.
Elting was arraigned in the City of Poughkeepsie Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail. *Several other charges are pending by the Drug Task Force.
Terence Whitted – Arrested at Poughkeepsie Commons Apartment Complex in the City of Poughkeepsie
(1) Count of Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance 2nd Degree, a Class A-2 Felony.
Whitted was arraigned in the City of Poughkeepsie Court and remanded to the Dutchess County Jail without bail.
*Several other charges are pending by the Drug Task Force.
The Drug Task Force is currently seeking additional individuals involved with this case and those arrests and charges are pending against those individuals.
The Drug Task Force will continue to identify those dangerous individuals selling narcotics in our communities in our effort to prevent fatal overdoses and suppress violent and property crimes fueled by the drug trade.
The search warrants were executed safely and efficiently today by the Drug Task Force due to the assistance of the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Patrol Bureau and Detective Bureau, The City of Poughkeepsie Police Department Community Policing Unit and Neighborhood Recovery Unit, the Hyde Park Police Department, The District Attorney’s Office Violent Crime and Dangerous Drug Bureau, as well as the New York State Police Crime Suppression Unit. These agencies, among others, continue to support the Dutchess County Drug Task Force when search warrants and raids are carried out in Dutchess County.
As with any criminal case, the charges described above are merely an accusation and those individuals named in this release are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
If anyone has information regarding these cases in this release or about any other individuals selling drugs in Dutchess County, you are urged to contact the District Attorney’s Drug Task Force confidential tip line at 845-463-6040 or by sending an email to the following email address: Drugtaskforcetips@gmail.com
