LI Man's Fentanyl Distribution Caused 2 Fatal Overdoses: Feds

CENTRAL ISLIP, NY — An Amityville man pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl, leading to two fatal overdoses, the United States Department of Justice announced Monday.

Charles Carter, also known as "Chase," 34, admitted that the fentanyl he sold caused two people to die; one in 2020 and the other in 2021, prosecutors said. Carter also admitted that in, 2021, he sold more than 43 grams of fentanyl to an undercover officer, the DOJ said.

As part of his plea agreement, Carter forfeited approximately $3,200 in seized narcotics sales proceeds and a 2009 Jeep Patriot that he used to sell the narcotics, authorities said.

Carter faces five to 40 years in prison once sentenced.

When sentenced, Carter faces five to 40 years’ imprisonment.

"Carter's fentanyl sales contributed to the overdose deaths of a man and a woman, which only added to pain and anguish caused by an opioid epidemic that has harmed so many on Long Island," Breon Peace, United States attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said in a news release. "The defendant's guilty plea today is the result of the relentless efforts by this Office and our law enforcement partners to prosecute traffickers dealing lethal drugs for profit and bring justice for the victims and families devastated by the scourge of fentanyl."

Between August 2020 and February 2021, Carter sold more than 40 grams of fentanyl to two overdose victims and an undercover GCPD detective, officials said.

The first victim, a 23-year-old Glen Cove woman, died of a drug-related overdose at her home on Aug. 6, 2020, investigators said. Cell phone analysis and other investigative work showed that the fentanyl that she used was purchased from Carter about two days before her death, after she had drug-sale-related communications with him, prosecutors said.

A Farmingdale man died of a drug overdose at his home on Feb. 5, 2021, the DOJ said. The deceased man's phone revealed texts between him and Carter, as he purchased fentanyl shortly before his death, as well as in previous months, authorities said.

On Jan. 21, 2021, Carter wrote text messages to the man, stating "im.(sic) around and I got the good stuff[.] Do u need to see me..??" officials said.

Autopsies performed on both victims revealed traces of fentanyl in their bodies, investigators said.

Carter repeatedly sold fentanyl to the undercover GCPD detective in doses that could have been lethal if consumed, including approximately 43 grams of fentanyl in January 2021, officials said.

"During the COVID pandemic, when the world was focused on saving lives and the public's health, Carter was making plans to sell 'the good stuff' which ended lives and fueled the fentanyl crisis," said DEA Special Agent-in-Charge Frank Tarentino. "This plea exemplifies law enforcement's efforts to bring to justice those causing the most harm to our communities."

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Department of Justice, in 2019, nearly 71,000 people died from drug overdoses, making it a leading cause of injury-related death in the United States.

Fentanyl has been a driving force behind the increase in overdose deaths, federal officials said. The drug has been described as "50 to 100 times more potent than morphine," the DOJ said.

In 2019, over 14,000 people died in the United States from a drug overdose involving heroin. From 2013 to 2019, the synthetic opioid death rate increased by more than 1,000 percent. Of those deaths, over 70% involved a prescription or illicit opioid. Among New York state residents, the number of overdose deaths involving any opioid increased each year between 2010 and 2017, with an overall increase of 200.2 percent from 1,074 in 2010 to 3,224 in 2017, according to the New York State Health Department.