The United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York on Wednesday announced that four men have been arrested in connection with the overdose death of actor and producer Michael K. Williams.
Williams, 54, was found dead in his New York City apartment in September last year. His cause of death was later ruled as an accidental overdose by the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office. Williams was famous for his role in the pioneering HBO series “The Wire”, and played the character Omar Little.
Authorities said the deceased actor purchased the fatal fentanyl-laced heroin from one of the men in custody. And the four suspects are said to be part of a drug trafficking ring, CNN reported.
The suspects, identified as 39-year-old Irvin Cartagena, Hector Robles, 57, Luis Cruz, 56, and 70-year-old Carlos Macci, were taken into custody on Tuesday. Court filings disclosed they have each been charged with “conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl analogue, fentanyl, and heroin.”
The charge brought against the four suspects “carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison,” the United States Attorney’s Office of the Southern District of New York said.
Though the men got to know about Williams’ passing after purchasing the deadly drug, prosecutors said they “continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin, in broad daylight, amidst residential apartment buildings, in Brooklyn and Manhattan.”
“Deadly opioids like fentanyl and heroin don’t care about who you are or what you’ve accomplished,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the statement. “They just feed addiction and lead to tragedy. The Southern District of New York and our law enforcement partners will not give up. We will bring every tool to bear. And we will continue to hold accountable the dealers who push this poison, exploit addiction, and cause senseless death.”
Cartagena allegedly sold the deadly drug dose to Williams. And as a result, he faces an additional charge of causing the 54-year-old’s death, CNN reported. The charge carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life in prison, per court filings.
Cartagena, who was arrested in Puerto Rico, is set to appear before a federal court in the Caribbean nation on Thursday. Robles, Cruz, and Macci, on the other hand, had been scheduled to appear before Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.
