Four men have been charged in connection with the death of Michael K. Williams and accused of selling him heroin laced with fentanyl. The actor, famous for playing Omar Little in The Wire, was found dead in his Brooklyn apartment on September 6th 2021.
Two weeks later, it was confirmed his death was a result of a combination of fentanyl, p-fluorfentanyl, heroine, and cocaine, and was ruled as an overdose.
Now, as reported by Consequence of Sound, four men have been charged with providing Williams with the fatal fentanyl. Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said the men were part of a drug trafficking crew that worked out of Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Williams was seen on video surveillance footage obtained by police detectives purchasing heroin from their crew in that neighbourhood on September 5th 2021, the day before his death.
The four men – Irvin Cartagena, Hector Robles, Luis Cruz, and Carlos Macci – are all charged with conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl analogue, fentanyl, and heroin. The charge carries with it a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, with a maximum sentence of 40 years.
In addition to that, Cartagena is also charged with causing the actor’s death as he executed the hand-to-hand transaction. That charge brings with it a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison, with a maximum sentence of life.
“Michael K. Williams, a prominent actor and producer, tragically overdosed in his New York City apartment from fentanyl-laced heroin,” Damian Williams said in a statement. “This is a public health crisis. And it has to stop. Deadly opioids like fentanyl and heroin don’t care about who you are or what you’ve accomplished.
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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.”
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