New Haven Man Who Sold Drug To OD Victim Gets 8 Years In Prison: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — A 44-year-old New Haven man was sentenced in federal court Tuesday for selling fentanyl-laced cocaine to a man who suffered a fatal overdose in a Mohegan Sun Casino bathroom in 2021, according to Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

Jerrard Santiago will serve 96 months, or eight years, plus three years of supervised release, for narcotics distribution offenses stemming from the overdose death, Avery said.

According to Avery, court documents and statements made in court, on May 18, 2021, Santiago sold cocaine laced with fentanyl to a 22-year-old man in a restroom of the Mohegan Sun Casino. The purchaser overdosed on the casino floor and died approximately 11 days later, the federal prosecutor said.

On Feb. 3, 2023, investigators made a controlled purchase of fentanyl and heroin from Santiago and 11 days later, made another controlled purchase of fentanyl and cocaine from him, Avery said

Santiago has been detained since his arrest on March 30, 2023.

On Jan. 29, 2024, he pleaded guilty to two counts of possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, a controlled substance.

After an evidentiary hearing in April 2024, a federal court judge "concluded that Santiago knowingly distributed the narcotics that caused the victim’s overdose and death," according to the U.S. Attorney.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Mohegan Tribal Police and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ross Weingarten and Christopher W. Schmeisser.