Beloved Hudson Valley Coach, School Teacher Arrested in Narcotics Sting

A Hudson Valley teacher and coach was arrested along with 36 others in a major narcotics sting operation.

Details about a four-month-long covert police operation titled "Operation Final Blow" was announced by officials on Wednesday. The investigation was coordinated between law enforcement agencies from three states and the federal government. The result was the seizure of 2 kilograms of cocaine, 75 grams of heroin, 165 grams of fentanyl, 1,600 ecstasy pills and 235 Oxycodone pills.

Among the 37 people arrested was a beloved assistant football coach and teacher who is now suspended from his dream job.

Jack Piscitelli was a star football player at Port Jervis high school where he earned Second-Team All-State and set the New York State record for scoring four defensive touchdowns in one game. After graduating in 2015, The star athlete attended SUNY Brockport where he played wide receiver for the Golden Eagles.

Up until this week, Piscitelli was a school teacher and the assistant coach for a successful Hudson Valley high school football team. The latest entry on the 24-year-old's Facebook page is a photo of him coaching a game on September 22. A comment from Piscitelli's father says "Living Dreams & Making Dreams for the next generation."

Today, the Monticello Central School District announced that Piscitelli is no longer on school grounds, but will instead be working from home. The message didn't mention the teacher and coach by name but stated that the school was made aware of a teacher in the high school who was arrested. Piscitelli is the assistant coach for the Monticello Panthers.

It is the District’s policy to immediately reassign a teacher to home pending the investigation into any arrest. This arrest, to the best of our knowledge, was not related to any event or incident on school grounds, nor did it involve any Monticello CSD students. We are closely monitoring the legal proceedings regarding this matter.

Orange County DA, David M. Hoovler held a press conference this morning where he named Piscitelli among a list of individuals who are being charged with the class B felony of "Conspiracy in the Second Degree, for having agreed to engage in or cause the performance of conduct constituting the class A felony of Criminal Sale of a Controlled Substance in the First Degree." If convicted, Piscitelli would face a maximum sentence of eight and one-third to twenty-five years in state prison.