A Brooklyn man pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute opioids including the dose of fentanyl-laced heroin that killed “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams.
The admission that drugs he sold killed Williams was a stipulation in defendant Irvin Cartagena’s plea deal, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York wrote in its announcement of the guilty plea.
The drug trafficking organization for which Cartagena worked under the criminal alias “Green Eyes” operated in the Williamsburg part of Brooklyn from at least August 2020 to February 2022.
Cartagena was arrested in Puerto Rico in February, a day before three other co-conspirators were arrested in Manhattan, according to the Agence France-Presse news wire.
The group sold fentanyl analogue and fentanyl-laced heroin both on South 3rd Street and inside a room in the apartment building facing said street.
On Sept. 5, 2021, members of the organization sold Williams fentanyl-laced heroin.
Cartagena performed the hand-to-hand transaction with Williams, who was found in his Williamsburg apartment unconscious and face down by his nephew on Sept. 6, 2021.
Medics declared Williams, who himself played drug dealer Omar Little on “The Wire,” dead at the scene.
Cartagena and co-conspirators continued their sales despite learning of Williams’ overdose from their product. Prosecutors did not specify whether anyone else subsequently died from the drug ring’s heroin.
Having pleaded guilty to one count of possession of and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, fentanyl analogue, and heroin, Cartagena will face a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison.
Fellow conspirator Carlos Macci pleaded guilty to a lesser offense to the unspecified count one of the group’s indictment, according to CourtListener.com.
• Brad Matthews can be reached at bmatthews@washingtontimes.com.
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