Nearly a half-dozen people have been arrested in connection with selling the drugs that led to the July 2023 overdose death of actor Robert De Niro’s grandson, according to court documents.
Five men — Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, Grant McIver, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas — were charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death in the July 2023 death of Leandro Anthony De Niro-Rodriguez, the only child of De Niro’s oldest daughter, Drena, and two other teens.
The defendants allegedly used social media to promote and sell drugs across New York City and parts of Long Island. They allegedly doled out thousands of fake Xanax pills laced with fentanyl to teens and young adults.
Federal prosecutors say three 19-year-olds, including De Niro’s grandson, died of overdoses in a three-month span during the summer of 2023. Each case involved fentanyl-laced pills.
De Niro-Rodriguez’s mother, Drena De Niro, had previously said her son died after being sold pills.
The NYPD has said officers found De Niro-Rodriguez unconscious when responding to a 911 call to Wall Street in Lower Manhattan. The recently turned 19-year-old was pronounced dead at the scene.
Prosecutors say De Niro-Rodriguez had just moved to New York for a theater internship on Broadway, not long after graduating from high school in Aspen, Colorado. He had only been in his apartment for two days.
His death was ruled an accident, with the New York City medical examiner’s office determining De Niro-Rodriguez died from the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.
De Niro-Rodriguez’s mother announced his death on July 3, 2023.
“Someone sold him fentanyl laced pills that they knew were laced yet still sold them to him,” Drena De Niro wrote. “So for all these people still f—— around selling and buying this s—, my son is gone forever.”
Robert De Niro also provided a statement at the time of his grandson’s death, saying: “I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone. We ask that we please be given privacy to grieve our loss of Leo.”
Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, too, had acting credits to his name, with roles in three projects also featuring his mother: 2005’s “The Collection,” 2018’s “Cabaret Maxime” and “A Star Is Born.” In Bradley Cooper’s remake, the mother and son played mother and son — wife and child to Dave Chappelle’s character.
One of the other teenage victims was identified as Akira Stein, the daughter of Chris Stein, the guitarist and co-founder of the New York City rock band Blondie along with Debbie Harry. The teen overdosed on May 30, 2023, in lower Manhattan after taking pills allegedly sold to her by brothers John and Roy Nicolas.
In a post on Instagram, Chris Stein said arrests had been made in his daughter’s case, and that law enforcement had been “very sympathetic and respectful all through this process and I can’t thank them enough for this hope of some justice for her.”
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the suspects “used social media to manipulate teenagers” and sell them the deadly pills.
“The NYPD remains laser-focused on dismantling dangerous drug networks and restoring quality-of-life in our communities. I am grateful to the NYPD investigators, the DEA, HSI, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their relentless work to shut this operation down and bring these dangerous individuals to justice,” Tisch said.
from NBC Chicago https://ift.tt/YdIaKbk
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