Mother, Adult Son Charged Separately With Dealing Drugs In New Paltz
NEW PALTZ, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A mother and her adult son were arrested last week, both accused of selling drugs in Ulster County.
As CBS2's Lou Young reported, police said Christine Altro, 57, and her son, Christopher Altro, 27, were both dealing drugs and were each unaware of what the other was up to.
"It's been a little rough for the family for the last week," said another one of Christine Altro's three sons as he declined an interview on behalf of his mother. "You know, she's really not in the mood."
Christine Altro was out on bail Monday on charges that she dealt prescription painkillers. Christopher Altro remained in jail on charges of dealing heroin as of Monday, and neighbors were shaking their heads.
"The suburbs are not the suburbs anymore," said neighbor Tiffany Ward.
Even though both were accused of selling opiates, police said Christine Altro and her son were not working together. In fact, CBS2 was told mother and son learned they were drug-dealing colleague while being booked, police said.
"In this particular case, the mother and son were on their own programs doing their own thing," said Ulster County Sheriff's office Sgt. Dirk Budd.
The mother and son were picked up this past Wednesday by the Ulster County Sheriff in New Paltz -- on the same day because detectives didn't want the arrest of one to spook the other, police said. Christopher Altro -- employed as a cook -- was arrested at his home on a quiet residential street about a mile from the mobile home park where his mom lives.
Police said Christine Altro claims to be disabled with a back injury and has a prescription for some of the painkillers she allegedly sold to undercover cops.
Ironically, the pills and heroin are closely related -- just like mother and son. Oxycodone is considered a gateway drug among opiates.
"They move on to heroin quickly, and the price of heroin is dropping. It continues to drop," Sgt. Budd said. "I hate to say, we're spitting in the ocean with heroin right now."
Christopher Altro was being held on $20,000 bail Monday.