A muscle-bound former NYPD officer accused of murdering four men in a cocaine deal gone wrong is facing the death penalty after he allegedly lured his victims to a local bar and executed them.

Authorities allege Nicholas Tartaglione, 49, invited the men to Likquid Lounge, in Orange County under false pretenses, and held them their against their will before killing them - shooting three in the backs of their heads.

Police say he was aided by former New York City officer Joseph Biggs, 57.

The pair then allegedly drove the bodies to Tartaglione's farm about 30 minutes away and buried them in a wooded area.

Prosecutors announced their intention to seek the death penalty in the high-profile case against Tartaglione during a hearing in White Plains on Tuesday, LoHud reports.

Authorities allege Nicholas Tartaglione (pictured), 49, invited the men to Likquid Lounge, in Orange County, under false pretenses and held them their against their will before shooting three in the back of their head

Defense lawyer Bruce Barket raged at the prosecution's decision to seek the harshest penalty.

'Unfortunate, despicable, unnecessary, unjust, egregious, thoughtless, pointless; those are all words that came to my mind,' Barket said, adding 'outrageous' to the list.

Tartaglione is accused in the deaths of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez, who went missing April 11, 2016.

Their bodies were found by police using a digger after Tartaglione was arrested in December 2017 over conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine.

Three had been shot in the back of the head, while Martin Luna, whose death was ruled as homicide, died in another, unexplained manner.

Prosecutors say the men lured Martin Luna (top left) to a bar 'to track down a drug debt'. Luna brought along two relatives and a family friend - 32-year-old Urbano Santiago (bottom right), 25-year-old Miguel Luna (bottom left) and 43-year-old Hector Gutierrez (top right) -

Despite the showing of force from the prosecution, the decision to seek the death penalty is still relatively rare in the state.

Manhattan Federal prosecutors announced in September they would pursue the death penalty against Sayfullo Saipov - accused of being an ISIS sympathizer and killing eight people in a 2017 truck attack on the Hudson River bike path.

Before Saipov, prosecutors last pursued the death penalty against drug kingpin Khalid (Big Homie) Barnes, convicted in 2008 of running a violent drug ring as well as murdering two people. He was ultimately spared the death penalty.

Tartaglione is accused in the deaths of Martin Luna, Urbano Santiago, Miguel Luna and Hector Gutierrez, who went missing April 11, 2016. Their bodies were found by police after Tartaglione was arrested in 2017 over conspiracy to distribute more than 11 pounds of cocaine

The four bodies were then taken to Tartaglione's farm 30 minutes away and buried. Biggs (pictured) is also also accused of the horrifying murders

Tartaglione's defense team had pursued a plea deal for more than a year in a bid to head off the death penalty. They met with with officials at Department of Justice in Washington in December but failed to convince them.

Barket told reporters: 'The first part of the trial that we will have, and we are preparing for, is the innocence phase and that's what we're preparing for as much as anything else.'