Peabody Oxycontin dealer sentenced

SALEM – A midlevel OxyContin dealer from Peabody, whose drug business was discovered when he was shot multiple times two years ago in what police suspect was a drug deal gone sour, will serve seven years in prison before being placed on probation for another 10 years.Luigi Passanisi, 36, formerly of 30 Roosevelt Ave., Peabody, pleaded guilty in Salem Superior Court in July 2007 to trafficking over 28 grams of OxyContin, two counts of possession with the intent to distribute Vicodin and OxyContin and possession with the intent to distribute marijuana in connection with his arrest in January 2006.Sentencing had been delayed because Passinisi had drug and money laundering charges pending in Federal Court.Last week, on April 2, he was sentenced to federal prison for seven years on those charges in a plea deal worked out with federal authorities.Tuesday morning he appeared in Salem Superior Court and was sentenced to serve seven years in prison to be followed by 10 years of probation on the charges he admitted to last July.The punishment imposed, however, will run together with the federal prison sentence.Judge David A. Lowy sentenced Passinisi as proposed by Assistant District Attorney Michael A. Patten and defense lawyer Anthony Cardinale.Passinisi, who has been held in custody since July 2007, will serve about six more years in prison before he is released, Cardinale said.On the afternoon of Jan. 13, 2006, police got a 911 call from his home that he shared with his live-in-girlfriend, Stefana Mullen, at 30 Roosevelt Ave., that a shooting had occurred.When Peabody police officer, Alfred Scotina arrived he found Passinisi lying outside on the street, covered with blood. He told police he had been shot five times at close range and identified his assailant as Christopher Dalomba, 33, also of Peabody.The incident led to a six-hour manhunt through local neighborhoods led by Police Sgt. Scott Richards.But Dalomba, who lived approximately two blocks away at 59 Harrison Ave., quickly fled the area and was not located again for nearly a year until he was arrested in New York City and returned to Massachusetts to face attempted murder, armed assault in a dwelling, assault and battery with a dangerous weapon and attempted armed robbery charges – allegations he denies.Passinisi, who remained in a coma for weeks before recovering and underwent several major operations, has agreed to testify against Dalomba at Dalomba’s upcoming trial scheduled on May 6.Following the shooting, police officers went to Roosevelt Avenue looking for weapons and other evidence in the shooting, but instead found hundreds of OxyContin and Vicodin pills and marijuana in various locations in the house.Mullen, 31, who is the owner of a downtown Peabody nightclub clothing store called “Liquid,” pleaded guilty last July also to possession with the intent to distribute OxyContin, Vicodin and marijuana with the intent to distribute and received a suspended 2 and one-half year jail term and 10 years of probation.Passinisi and Mullen sold the Roosevelt Avenue home last October for $490,000.