United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”), Jessica S. Tisch, and Special Agent in Charge of the New York Task Force Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”), Christopher Roberts, announced the conviction at trial of JOHN LIVIGNI for his role as a leader in the drug trafficking conspiracy that flooded Washington Square Park and surrounding streets with fentanyl, fentanyl analogues, heroin, and crack cocaine between in or about 2020 and the arrests of numerous members of the conspiracy in October 2025. As the jury found, the conspiracy caused deaths and serious bodily injury to victims who overdosed on the conspiracy’s product, including the June 3, 2024, fatal overdose of Bailey Shaw; the November 24, 2024, fatal overdose of Bethany Hine; and the November 11, 2024, non-fatal overdose of Antonia Hayes. The conviction comes after a 7-day jury trial before U.S. District Judge Denise L. Cote. It follows convictions of 20 other defendants who participated in the drug trafficking conspiracy of which LIVIGNI was a leader. LIVIGNI is scheduled to be sentenced on January 22, 2027.
“Our Office’s commitment to keeping New Yorkers safe includes ensuring they can use public spaces without the interference of dangerous drug dealers,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “This jury verdict holds John Livigni accountable for turning Washington Square Park, in the heart of Greenwich Village, into an open-air drug market. Not anymore: as a result of our Office’s dedication, New Yorkers are able to enjoy our iconic Washington Square Park in peace—and safely.”
“John Livigni tried to turn Washington Square Park into an open-air drug market, brazenly peddling fentanyl, heroin, and crack cocaine that led to multiple fatal overdoses,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch. “Livigni’s conviction sends a clear message that there will be zero tolerance for anyone who floods our communities with drugs. I want to thank our incredible NYPD investigators for their work on reclaiming Washington Square Park and putting this drug market out of business.”
“This conviction holds John Livigni accountable for his role in flooding Washington Square Park and the surrounding community with fentanyl, heroin, and other dangerous drugs that contributed to fatal and non-fatal overdoses,” said DEA New York Task Force Division Special Agent in Charge Christopher Roberts. “This case is a sobering reminder that behind the profits of drug traffickers are real people and families whose lives can be forever changed by the deadly consequences of these drugs. The DEA New York Task Force remains committed to working alongside our law enforcement partners to dismantle the organizations that put profits before human lives and bring dangerous drugs into our communities.”
As alleged in the Indictment and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:
Washington Square Park (the “Park”) is located in the middle of New York University’s undergraduate campus in downtown Manhattan. It is a communal space that features amenities and landmarks, like chess tables, a playground, and the famous Washington Square Arch.
Between at least 2020 and October 2025, a network of drug dealers took over sections of the Park and surrounding blocks, flooding the area with deadly narcotics including fentanyl, dangerous fentanyl analogues including parafluorofentanyl and acetylfentanyl, heroin, and crack cocaine. The leaders of the group, including LIVIGNI, turned the Park into a ‘round-the-clock open-air market where teams of dealers managed “workers”—often drug users and addicts—to make sales to the countless customers who streamed into the area to buy their drugs of choice. LIVIGNI in particular supplied and directed the dealers who controlled a stretch of 6th Avenue about a block to the northwest of the Park. Members of that team made sales every day, working in shifts to sell LIVIGNI’s drugs and to revert profits back to LIVIGNI. In addition, LIVIGNI also had agreements with the other dealers in the Park to divide their territory, share workers, ensure customers were served, and protect their operations from unauthorized competition. They also warned one another about the presence of law enforcement in and around the Park to help avoid arrests, which would hurt business for the entire group.
The conspiracy was highly profitable, as LIVIGNI and his co-conspirators made thousands of dollars a day from the drug trade. LIVIGNI kept photographs of cash saved on his phone and iCloud, including the images captured below.
At the same time LIVIGNI was profiting from the drug trade, his conspiracy’s product was wreaking havoc on users, causing both fatal and non-fatal overdoses. In particular, the group’s mixtures of heroin and fentanyl, often called “dope” by users in the Park, caused the deaths of Bailey Shaw and Bethany Hine, and the non-fatal overdose of Antonia Hayes.
- On June 3, 2024, Bailey Shaw, an 18-year-old recent high school graduate from Colorado, overdosed on fentanyl that a friend had obtained from a member of LIVIGNI’s conspiracy. Empty “dope” glassines were found next to Shaw’s body on Shaw’s bed and nightstand.
- On November 11, 2024, Antonia Hayes overdosed on fentanyl she obtained from a member of LIVIGNI’s conspiracy. Found on a Park bench, she survived after paramedics administered multiple doses of Narcan. At the same time, another user overdosed on a nearby bench, and two other bystanders were demonstrating signs of opioid intoxication.
- On November 24, 2024, Bethany Hine overdosed on fentanyl that Hine had obtained from a member of LIVIGNI’s conspiracy. LIVIGNI’s team of dealers had a practice of giving Hine fentanyl, heroin, and crack cocaine every morning in exchange for LIVIGNI taking and using Hine’s government benefits card (e.g., Hine’s food stamps). Hine was homeless, and Hine’s body was found on the street, in a doorway, surrounded by syringes and empty drug bags consistent with ones sold by LIVIGNI’s dealers and other members of the Park conspiracy.
- The area where Hine was found, littered with drug paraphernalia including empty “dope” bags.
- Syringes and empty “dope” bags found near Hine’s body
LIVIGNI, 48, of New York, New York, was convicted of one count of narcotics conspiracy resulting in death and serious bodily injury, and faces up to life in prison with a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years.
The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the judge.
Mr. McDonald praised the outstanding work of the NYPD and the DEA.
This case is being handled by the Office’s Narcotics Unit.
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