Four people have been arrested in the overdose death of “The Wire” star Michael K. Williams — and the crew stashed drugs behind trash cans in Brooklyn while selling them in plain sight, federal authorities said Wednesday.
The suspects, Hector Robles, Luis Cruz, Carlos Macci and Irvin Cartagena, were each charged with narcotics conspiracy for distributing fentanyl-laced heroin that led to Williams’ overdose death in September 2021, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said.
The suspects were members of a drug crew that operated on the south side of Williamsburg and sold cocaine that was laced with deadly fentanyl.
Surveillance footage obtained by investigators shows Cartagena allegedly completing a hand-to-hand drug sale with Williams the day before he was found dead in his Williamsburg apartment.
The gang stashed the drugs behind garbage cans outside 228 South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, next door to where the 70-year-old Macci lives, prosecutors said.
According to a federal complaint, Cartagena, also known as “Green Eyes,” had sold drugs to undercover informants for months prior to Williams’ death.
When cops responded to the actor’s apartment on Sept. 6, they found drug and drug paraphernalia near his body, the complaint said.
“More specifically, the NYPD found, among other things: a white plate with white powdery residue on it, a straw on the plate, and several glassines that were marked with the stamp ‘AAA Insurance’ and scattered on and around the white plate,” the complaint said.
The residue was sent to an NYPD lab and tested positive for heroin and fentanyl, according to the complaint.
In addition to Cartagena, the other three defendants also were known by their street names — Robles as “Oreja,” or ears, Cuz as “Mostro,” and Macci as “Carlito,” according to the feds.
The four men continued to sell the deadly drugs at residential buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan — even after learning their stash allegedly killed Williams, the feds said.
In fact, federal prosecutors said undercover informants made another drug buy from the dealers the day after Williams’ body was found.
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. They just feed addiction and lead to tragedy,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement announcing the arrests.
Cartagena was arrested in Puerto Rico on Tuesday and is expected to make an initial court appearance Thursday in federal court there.
Macci, who has 23 prior drug convictions, appeared before Magistrate Judge Stewart Aaron on Wednesday and was ordered held without bail.
“They knew they sold these drugs to Michael Williams and he died,” federal prosecutor Micah Fergenson told the judge. “They continued selling these drugs to customers knowing that might be the last thing they did.”
Macci’s lawyer, Ben Zeman, maintained that this client is “not so much a lifelong drug dealer as a lifelong drug user.”
Robles and Cruz are due in Manhattan federal court later Wednesday.
Four arrested in connection to the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams
The suspects, Hector Robles, Luis Cruz, Carlos Macci and Irvin Cartagena, were each charged with narcotics conspiracy for distributing fentanyl-laced heroin that led to Williams’ overdose death in September 2021, federal prosecutors in Manhattan said.
The suspects were members of a drug crew that operated on the south side of Williamsburg and sold cocaine that was laced with deadly fentanyl.
Surveillance footage obtained by investigators shows Cartagena allegedly completing a hand-to-hand drug sale with Williams the day before he was found dead in his Williamsburg apartment.
The gang stashed the drugs behind garbage cans outside 228 South 3rd Street in Williamsburg, next door to where the 70-year-old Macci lives, prosecutors said.
According to a federal complaint, Cartagena, also known as “Green Eyes,” had sold drugs to undercover informants for months prior to Williams’ death.
When cops responded to the actor’s apartment on Sept. 6, they found drug and drug paraphernalia near his body, the complaint said.
“More specifically, the NYPD found, among other things: a white plate with white powdery residue on it, a straw on the plate, and several glassines that were marked with the stamp ‘AAA Insurance’ and scattered on and around the white plate,” the complaint said.
The residue was sent to an NYPD lab and tested positive for heroin and fentanyl, according to the complaint.
In addition to Cartagena, the other three defendants also were known by their street names — Robles as “Oreja,” or ears, Cuz as “Mostro,” and Macci as “Carlito,” according to the feds.
The four men continued to sell the deadly drugs at residential buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan — even after learning their stash allegedly killed Williams, the feds said.
In fact, federal prosecutors said undercover informants made another drug buy from the dealers the day after Williams’ body was found.
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. They just feed addiction and lead to tragedy,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement announcing the arrests.
Cartagena was arrested in Puerto Rico on Tuesday and is expected to make an initial court appearance Thursday in federal court there.
Macci, who has 23 prior drug convictions, appeared before Magistrate Judge Stewart Aaron on Wednesday and was ordered held without bail.
“They knew they sold these drugs to Michael Williams and he died,” federal prosecutor Micah Fergenson told the judge. “They continued selling these drugs to customers knowing that might be the last thing they did.”
Macci’s lawyer, Ben Zeman, maintained that this client is “not so much a lifelong drug dealer as a lifelong drug user.”
Robles and Cruz are due in Manhattan federal court later Wednesday.
Four arrested in connection to the overdose death of actor Michael K. Williams
