By Edgar Sandoval and Reuven Blau
New York Daily News
NEW YORK — A city firefighter accused of trafficking fentanyl was sent to rehab to get clean before his next court date.
Brooklyn Federal Magistrate Judge Steven Gold told Anthony Murino, 45, that Sunday was his “lucky day” before the jurist released him on $100,000 bond to a rehab center in Pennsylvania.
“You may be too affected by the drugs in your system to understand me,” Gold said. “You gotta stay there. I want to see you clean and sober in a few months.
“This can be the day that saved your life. If you are a firefighter, you are a brave man, you are a great man.”
Outside, Murino used a scarf to block his face from photographers -- and then walked into a utility pole he didn’t see.
Authorities suspect Murino, busted in his Staten Island home Friday, bought the opioid on the dark web.
He allegedly said he bought 23 grams of fentanyl, and other drugs, with bitcoin to sell.
Murino’s lawyer, Robert Gallo, told the judge his family wants to see him get help at the rehab clinic.
“He needs to go there immediately,” Gallo said.
Murino’s mother sobbed as she hugged her newly released son, who has worked for nearly four years at Ladder 11 in the East Village.
Wearing shabby blue scrubs, Murino looked dazed as he embraced her.
“I’m OK,” he mumbled as his father later shook his hand. Separately, Gold scolded the federal prosecutors for taking longer than the required 48 hours to bring Murino before a judge.
“Try to untangle this,” Gold told prosecutor Temidayo Aganga-Williams. “I want to find out what happened. It’s not right.”
Copyright 2018 New York Daily News