Drug Dealer Who Sold Fentanyl-Laced Heroin That Killed Actor Michael K. Williams Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison

By Melissa Noel ·Updated August 21, 2023

A drug dealer in New York City was sentenced to ten years in jail on Friday for supplying fentanyl-laced heroin to actor Michael K. Williams, resulting in his death in September 2021.

Irvin Cartagena, 40, of Aibonito, Puerto Rico, also received an additional five-year sentence of supervised release for “conspiring to distribute heroin, fentanyl, and fentanyl analog,” according to a news release issued by the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.

“On Sept. 5, 2021, Irvin Cartagena sold Michael K. Williams a fatal dose of heroin laced with fentanyl and a fentanyl analog. Michael K. Williams tragically lost his life after using the drugs sold to him by Cartagena,” US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.

“Although their product had already claimed one life, Cartagena and his co-conspirators continued to sell potentially lethal fentanyl-laced heroin,” the attorney’s statement continued. “This Office will tenaciously continue our enforcement efforts against unscrupulous drug

dealers who distribute poison and exacerbate the scourge of the fentanyl epidemic.”

Cartagena, also known as “Green Eyes,” addressed the court before his prison sentence was revealed. “I am very sorry for my actions,” he said, according to NBC News. “When we sold the drugs, we never intended for anyone to lose their life.”

Cartagena pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs. He was one of four men charged with being part of a drug-trafficking ring that sold the deadly fentanyl-laced heroin to Williams.

Prosecutors say Cartagena carried out “the hand-to-hand transaction” with Williams moments before the actor, best known for his role as Omar Little on HBO’s “The Wire,” died of an accidental overdose.

According to the US Attorney’s Office, Despite knowing that Williams died after being sold their product, Cartagena and his co-conspirators continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in “broad daylight amidst residential apartment buildings in Brooklyn and Manhattan” Cartagena fled to Puerto Rico after Williams’ death but was ultimately arrested and charged.