Found dead – had drug conviction, addiction
AFTER RETIRING from the NYPD, he was convicted of helping a drug crew deliver cocaine in Brooklyn. But in the end, workrelated injuries and his addiction to painkillers — not his dangerous liaisons — likely led to his ultimate demise.
John Avvento, 45, was found dead in his home in Bath Beach, Brooklyn, on Tuesday afternoon. Percocet, Vicodin and a crack pipe were found near his body, police sources said.
An autopsy was inconclusive, and more tests will be done to determine the cause of death.
Avvento was sentenced to probation and home confinement in 2012 — a dozen years after he left the NYPD. He avoided federal prison time after pleading guilty to conspiring to distribute narcotics and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.
A year earlier, he’d been busted and accused of riding with the drug crew to help them avoid getting arrested. He was also accused of giving raid jackets and a handgun holster to a group of perps planning a home-invasion robbery.
Avvento was supposed to take part in the robbery, but then backed out, according to court papers. But he still got paid with cocaine, Vicodin and cash. He denied supplying the dealers with police equipment.
By then, said Avvento’s lawyer Arthur Aidala, the ex-cop was addicted to painkillers.
“This is really sad news,” Aidala said after learning of Avvento’s death. “Anytime you do a federal case you spend a lot of time with the client. You get to know him pretty well.”
“What a tragedy,” he added. “The reason why (Avvento) was addicted to all that stuff was because of his injuries and the pain he was in.”
Avvento joined the Housing Police Department in July 1992, less than two years before it and the Transit Police Department merged with the NYPD. By then, according to court papers, he had suffered various work injuries, but he refused to take painkillers. “He didn’t believe in it,” an older sister, Donna Avvento, said in his presentencing memorandum.
In 1995, however, he suffered a bad back injury while arresting a shooting suspect and was given a Vicodin prescription, though he didn’t start using the drug until five months later, the memo said. Other injuries and surgeries followed. And in 2000, Avvento, then assigned to the 62nd Precinct in southern Brooklyn, retired on a tax-free disability pension, getting more than $3,600 a month.
He tried to move on with his life, working as a school counselor and as a teacher — even as he was diagnosed with depression and anxiety. He was prescribed stronger medication to deal with his pain.
Court records show he was engaged at the time with two sons — a newborn and a 2-yearold.
At Avvento’s home Wednesday, a man and two children answered the door. “No comment,” the man said. “Please go.”