The drug dealer who played a role in the death of Michael K. Williams has been sentenced to a decade in prison. On Friday (August 18), Irvin Cartagena was sentenced to 10 years in prison over the death of The Wire star.
“I am very sorry for my actions,” Cartagena said before the sentence was announced. “When we sold the drugs, we never intended for anyone to lose their life.”
Cartagena pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to distribute drugs. U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams argued in the new ruling that by providing Williams with fentanyl-laced heroin, Cartagena caused the actor’s death.
However, the judge noted that those who knew Cartagena described him as “helpful and humble and hard working” when he was not using drugs himself.
“I’m hopeful that with treatment, it will help you move forward on a more productive and law-abiding path,” Abrams said.
Cartagena faced a mandatory minimum sentence of five years to 40 years behind bars. U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, noted in a statement that those who participated in the sale of drugs to Williams knew someone had previously died from the substances they were peddling.
Prosecutors also argued that Cartagena continued to sell fentanyl-laced heroin in Manhattan and Brooklyn after Williams’ death before he fled to Puerto Rico, where he was arrested in February 2022.
Williams overdosed in his Brooklyn penthouse apartment in September 2021 at age 54, just hours after authorities said he bought heroin from Cartagena on the street in Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood in a deal captured by a security camera.