Dealer Gets 10 Years in Prison for Selling Michael K. Williams Deadly Fentanyl-Laced Drugs

A man who sold The Wire actor Michael K. Williams fentanyl-laced heroin that led to his death at age 54 in 2021 was sentenced to 10 years in prison on Friday.

Per the New York Times, Irvin Cartagena, 40, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams, who acknowledged in the sentencing that Cartagena knew the drugs were laced, resulting in a “very clear and very tragic" outcome.

Cartagena, who was one of four men charged with running a drug trafficking operation in Brooklyn, N.Y., apologized in court: "I am very sorry for my actions. When we sold the drugs, we never intended for anyone to lose their life."

Cartagena was arrested on Feb. 1, 2022, and pleaded guilty in April to conspiring to distribute drugs.

Last month, a plea for mercy from the creator of The Wire helped Cartagena's  71-year-old co-defendant receive only a two-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Carlos "Carlito" Macci had faced a maximum of 20 years after plea-bargaining in April to conspiracy to distribute narcotics as part of a crew that sold heroin and fentanyl-laced heroin in New York City.

However, the creator and head writer of The Wire, David Simon, pleaded with Manhattan federal Judge Ronnie Abrams to show leniency toward Macci, due to his advanced age and own lifelong addiction to drugs.