Drug Dealer Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Selling Fentanyl That Killed ‘The Wire’ Star Michael K. Williams

A drug dealer was sentenced to ten years in prison for the death of actor Michael K. Williams.

Irvin Cartagena was sentenced for conspiring to distribute heroin, fentanyl and a fentanyl analog, according to a news release by the United States Attorney’s office. Cartagena was one of four men charged with being part of a drug trafficking ring that sold the fatal fentanyl-laced heroin to Williams.

Cartagena and the other three defendants, Hector Robles, Luis Cruz and Carlos Macci have been leading a drug operation since 2020, according to investigators.

Cartagena was the person who conducted the “hand-to-hand transaction” with Williams. Despite knowing that Williams’ had died likely from the fentanyl-laced heroin, he and his co-conspirators continued to sell the deadly heroin. Cartagena fled to Puerto Rico, where he was arrested in February 2022. Cartagena and Macci pleaded guilty, while the other two men, Robles and Cruz, pleaded not guilty.

Williams was best known for his role as Omar Little in the HBO series The Wire, in which he played a stick-up man who robbed drug dealers in Baltimore. Williams’ portrayal of Little is considered to be one of the best in television history and is also credited as one of the main artistic forces in the late ’90s and early 2000s that helped change television into an art form. Williams was also known for his roles in Boardwalk Empire, Bessie and The Night Of. Williams has earned five Primetime Emmy nominations for his work in numerous roles.

Williams was found dead in his New York City apartment in 2021. The New York City medical examiner ruled that Williams died of an accidental overdose. He was 54 years old. Before his death, Williams had been open about struggling with drug addiction due to the pressures of fame.