Two Bronx drug dealers face life in prison after they were charged Thursday with distributing fentanyl that killed a man.
Michael Kelleher,35 and Mark Gonzalez,43, were also charged with participating in a conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and using and carrying a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking offense.
“Opioids have a well-known history of causing overdoses, destroying lives, and devastating communities,” said NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea. “That’s why the NYPD and its law enforcement partners work tirelessly to rid our city of these and other deadly drugs and work tirelessly to prosecute those who sell them. I want to thank the investigators and prosecutors who worked on this investigation. It is their work that brings some measure of justice to this family who lost their loved one to a senseless overdose.”
According to the investigation, on May 19, 2020, the victim was found dead in his home in the Bronx and law enforcement agents identified Kelleher as the dealer who sold the victim pure fentanyl.
Following the victim’s death, officers went undercover and purchased additional quantities of fentanyl from Kelleher, and his supplier, Gonzalez, which were packaged exactly like those found in the victim’s residence on the day of his death. They also sold a firearm with a defaced serial number to the undercover cop.
