Seminole County, Fla,None — A friend of slain Seminole County firefighter Jerry Perdomo said Friday that accusations that he was a drug dealer who trafficked in prescription pills are lies.
On Thursday in Bangor, Maine, during a bond hearing for Daniel Porter, the man accused of killing Perdomo, investigators alleged that Perdomo trafficked up to 1,500 pain pills a month from Florida to Maine. Investigators also testified that Perdomo told Porter that he'd cut Porter's drug debt by $500 if he allowed Perdomo to sexually assault Porter's girlfriend, Cheyanne Nowak.
But friends of Perdomo said the man described in court Thursday is not the man they know – the firefighter who worked at Station 41 near Sanford.
"I've known Jerry for years and that's just bull,'' said friend Joshua Lacey.
Lacey said he knew Perdomo was selling pills, but he believes Porter is lying to make himself look like a victim.
Perdomo was known locally as a Marine, firefighter and devoted father and husband.
Porter, 24, who was denied bond on Thursday, is claiming self-defense in the slaying. Perdomo was shot in the head last month.
Porter's attorney, Jeffrey Silverstein, told WFTV's Bianca Castro, "You guys think he's a Marine and, you know, Joe Hero firefighter and I'm sure that was one aspect of his personality. But the aspect of his personality that came through up here was diametrically opposed to that.''
Silverstein said he also believes Perdomo had an accomplice.
"It's been my experience that when an individual is involved in the distribution of in excess of a thousand pills, then it's usually not accomplished alone,'' he said.
The Seminole County Sheriff's Office is looking at whether Perdomo was involved in drug activity in its jurisdiction. Sources told WFTV that he got the pills from a clinic in DeBary, but the Volusia County Sheriff's Office has not launched an investigation into those claims. A representative with the federal Drug Enforcement Administration said the agency has not been called in to investigate.
Porter's attorney said he hasn't decided whether he's going to appeal the judge's decision of no bond. If he doesn't, Porter will stay in jail until his trial. That might not happen for another year.