A man has admitted in court to selling the fentanyl-laced heroin that killed Michael K. Williams of The Wire in 2021.
Attorney Damien Williams claimed that Irvin Cartagena, also known as Green Eyes, peddled the narcotic “in broad daylight in New York City, fuelling addiction and bringing disaster.”
The attorney declared in front of a federal court in Manhattan, “He dealt the deadly dose that killed Michael K Williams.”
A 54-year-old US actor passed away in 2021.
His accidental drug overdose was eventually found to be the cause of death.
Williams already discussed his drug use. Following his passing, a number of well-known people paid tribute to him and expressed their sorrow, including Spike Lee, Viola Davis, and Stephen King, who called Williams “fantastically talented.”
The HBO television network, which broadcast 60 episodes of The Wire from 2002 to 2008, expressed its “devastation” over the news.
The groundbreaking portrayal of life in Baltimore’s projects provided by The Wire was made possible by Williams’ nuanced portrayal of gay drug dealer robber Omar Little.
In his interactions with Wendell Pierce’s investigator Bunk, a black schoolmate who served as a reminder of the divergent choices life offered them, Omar embodied the duality of a black existence never before given such honest screen time.
In a joint interview conducted prior to Williams’ passing, Pierce remarked that Williams’ co-portrayal star’s of characters “who most people would have never given the same compassion to” opened a portal to a world of guys that we pass by or are unaware of.
Documents indicated that on or around September 5, 2021, members of the drug trafficking organisation sold Michael K. Williams heroin that was tainted with fentanyl and a fentanyl analogue, with Cartagena carrying out the hand-to-hand transaction.
Cartagena and his accomplices “continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in broad daylight amidst residential apartment complexes in Brooklyn and Manhattan” despite knowing that Williams passed away after receiving the substance, the court was informed.
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Cartagena, 39, entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiring to possess, distribute, and traffic in heroin, fentanyl analogues, and other controlled substances. The defendant admitted culpability and stated that his actions “resulted in the death of Michael K Williams.”
According to the court documents, this involves a mandatory minimum term of five years in prison and a maximum punishment of forty years in prison.
“Our office and our criminal enforcement partners will continue to hold accountable the dealers who push this poison, exploit addiction, and inflict senseless death in our community,” said attorney Mr Williams.
