Overview
- Authorities announced on Oct. 30 that five men were arrested following a multiagency probe led by the DEA with SDNY prosecutors, HSI and the NYPD.
- The defendants — Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, Grant McIver, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas — are charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and alprazolam resulting in death, carrying a mandatory minimum of 20 years and up to life.
- Prosecutors say the network sold fentanyl-laced pills between January and July 2023, causing the fatal overdoses of three 19-year-olds, including Akira Stein and Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez.
- Charging documents state Akira died in May 2023 at her family’s Manhattan home after buying pills the day before, and that she had suffered multiple prior nonfatal overdoses from pills allegedly sold by two men.
- Stein posted on Instagram thanking the DEA, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York and the NYPD, calling the arrests a hope for some justice while warning followers to be careful.