A New York City drug dealer was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday for supplying “The Wire” actor Michael K. Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in his death.
Irvin Cartagena, 40, of Al Bonito, Puerto Rico, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams.Cartagena has plead guilty April conspired to distribute the drugs.
Williams overdoses in Brooklyn penthouse September 2021. He died hours after he bought heroin from Cartagena on a sidewalk near Williamsburg, Brooklyn, where security cameras recorded his transaction, authorities said.
Williams played Omar Little, a drug dealer’s rogue robber, on the HBO series “The Wire,” which aired from 2002 to 2008. In addition to the critically acclaimed series, Williams has also starred in films and other series such as The Wire. Seaside Empire. “
Cartagena faces at least five years in prison and could face up to 40 years in prison.
“I am very sorry for my actions,” he said before sentencing. “When we sell drugs, we never intend for anyone to lose their life.”
Abrams noted that people who knew Cartagena said he was “helpful, humble and hard-working” when he wasn’t doing drugs himself.
“It is my hope that with therapy … it will help put you on a more productive and law-abiding path,” the judge said.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that those involved in selling drugs to Williams already knew of other deaths from the drugs they peddled.
Prosecutors said Cartagena and others continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in Manhattan and Brooklyn even after Williams’ death, though Cartagena eventually fled to Puerto Rico, where he died in February 2022. Arrested there.
In defense statements before sentencing, Cartagena-based lawyer Sean Maher said his client was paid for selling heroin on the street to support his use.
“In one tragic moment, Mr. Cartagena handed over a small packet of the drug to Mr. Williams—likely someone else who was on or nearby selling the same drug,” Maher wrote. “Sentencing Mr. Cartagena to a double-digit prison term will not restore the good life he has lost.”
Prosecutors requested a minimum sentence of 12 years in their submissions, while the court’s probation unit recommended 20 years for drug-related crimes, including 14 offenses including burglary, robbery and jailbreak, before citing Cartagena.
However, Abrams said the recommendations were “simply too high”.
“That sentence, while harsh, is sufficient, but not unnecessarily necessary,” she said.
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