Source: Variety / Getty
The drug dealer that sold fentanyl-laced heroin that caused the death of acclaimed actor Michael K. Williams pleaded guilty to multiple drug charges on Wednesday, April 5.
CBS News reports that Irvin “Green Eyes” Cartagena, 39, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analog, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. As part of a plea deal, Cartagena admits to selling the fatal dose of laced heroin that killed Williams.
“Irvin Cartagena sold fentanyl-laced heroin in broad daylight in New York City, feeding addiction and causing tragedy,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement after the hearing. “In doing so, he dealt the fatal dose that killed Michael K. Williams.”
On Sept. 5, 2021, Cartagena sold the fentanyl-laced heroin to Williams, best known for his work on HBO’s The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, in a “hand-to-hand transaction.” One day later, on Sept. 6, Williams was found dead in his Brooklyn home. He was 54.
Four men, including Cartegena, were arrested in connection to Williams’ death in February of 2022. Hector Robles, Luis Cruz and Carlos Macci were named as co-conspirators with Cartagena.
All four men were charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute a fentanyl analog, fentanyl, and heroin. Those charges carry a prison sentence of up to 40 years.
Before his arrest, Cartegena was a member of a Drug Trafficking Organization (DTO), operating in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood.
“Despite knowing that Michael K. Williams died after being sold the DTO’s product, Cartagena and his co-conspirators continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in broad daylight amidst residential apartment buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan,” prosecutors said.
The criminal complaint alleges that the four men have been part of a Brooklyn-based “drug trafficking organization” called DTO since at least 2020.
“The DTO sells heroin laced with fentanyl and a fentanyl analog on the street in front of, and from an apartment inside of, the apartment building located at 224 South 3rd Street, among other places,” the criminal complaint says in part. “On or about September 5, 2021, members of the DTO sold Michael K. Williams heroin, which was laced with fentanyl and a fentanyl analog, with CARTAGENA executing the hand-to-hand transaction, as shown in the below screenshots from surveillance video.”
Cartegena now faces between 5 and 40 years in prison.
Read Cartagena’s full criminal complaint here. The complaint about the other three men is here.
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Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty In Michael K. Williams Death Trial was originally published on foxync.com
