Five Arrested in NYC Overdose Death Linked to Counterfeit Pills

Five people have been arrested in New York in connection with the 2023 overdose death of 19-year-old Leandro Anthony De Niro-Rodriguez, authorities said. De Niro-Rodriguez was found unresponsive on July 2, 2023, in an apartment in Lower Manhattan and was pronounced dead at the scene, officials said. A Drug Enforcement Administration official said the five defendants have been charged in a federal case alleging that their sale and distribution of controlled substances resulted in his death.

The New York City Chief Medical Examiner ruled the death an accidental overdose caused by a mixture of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine, according to the medical examiner’s findings. Police responded to a 911 call to a residence near Wall Street where officers discovered De Niro-Rodriguez unconscious, officials said.

Court papers and federal authorities allege the defendants were part of a network that distributed counterfeit prescription pills and other drugs to young people in the city. The five people identified in filings include Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas, according to the indictment. The defendants...