David Yaffe-Bellany Photo
Sneaker left by car where two victims were found outside Bowen Field.
Two New Haven men pleaded guilty in federal court Thursday to dealing fentanyl-laced cocaine that caused 16 people to overdose in six hours, and three of the overdose victims to die.
The two dealers, Frank Pina, who’s 47, and Steven Whaley, who’s 48, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Michael P. Shea on one count each of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, controlled substances.
They face up to 20 years each when they’re sentenced on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, respectively.
A third alleged dealer arrested in connection with the overdoses is scheduled to enter a plea on Friday.
The overdoses occurred on June 23. (Read about that here and here.) Authorities first believed the victims had taken heroin laced with fentanyl. Then they concluded they had used pure fentanyl, which they had believed was cocaine. Now authorities say they had used cocaine laced with fentanyl —which like cocaine is a white powder, but unlike cocaine is an opioid. One of the victims was a young woman who was taking the drugs with her mother while parked in a car outside the York Street Walgreens.
Whaley is out on bond pending his sentencing. Pina is behind bars.
Authorities said the men were longstanding dealers in New Haven, and the overdose victims were longstanding customers. One of them also worked as a night custodian at Lincoln-Bassett School.
The investigation continues. It has not been disclosed where the drugs originated, at what point they were mixed with fentanyl, or if the dealers knew about the fentanyl when distributing it.
Cops arrested the three dealers on June 27. A release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office stated that Pina “supplied drugs both directly and through various middlemen to several of the individuals who overdosed on June 23, 2016. Whaley was identified as an associate of Pina who sometimes served as a middleman.”
