Mahopac Couple Accused of Bringing Young Children to Drug Deal

A Mahopac couple are accused of taking their two-year-old child and newborn with them while they were selling heroin in the local area.

On Wednesday, 49-year-old Philip C. Callaci and 38 year-old Dawn Lagatella both from Mahopac allegedly drove to the parking lot of a Mahopac gas station to sell heroin to a buyer.

The couple’s two young children, a two-year-old and three-week infant, were in the car during the drug deal, police say. After the heroin sale was complete, authorities arrested the couple and allegedly seized heroin from their car.

The buyer, was an undercover deputy sheriff working as part a buy-and-bust team of the Putnam County Sheriff’s Narcotics Enforcement Unit, officials say.

The Sheriff’s Office notified the Putnam County Department of Child Protective Services. The children were temporarily turned over to a relative at the scene.

Callaci was charged with third-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance with intent to sell and endangering the welfare of a child. At the time of the arrest, Callaci was on probation for a prior petit larceny conviction. He was arraigned in Carmel Town Court and released from Putnam County Jail after $10,000 cash bail was posted.

Lagatella was charged with seventh-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance in the and endangering the welfare of a child. She was booked and released upon an appearance ticket directing her to answer the charges in the Carmel Justice Court on a later date.