Atlantic City Man Admits To Selling Drugs That Killed NJ Customer

ATLANTIC CITY, NJ - An Atlantic City man admitted this week to selling a fatal combination of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl to a 42-year-old customer who overdosed at a city laundromat.

Ramon Rivera, 51, of Atlantic City, pleaded guilty Tuesday to first-degree strict liability drug-induced death, the Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office said in a statement.

A police investigation determined that in September 2020, Rivera, a then-employee at the Haps Laundromat, sold Felipe Popocati Garcia-Lopez, 42, and Isidro Arenas, 39, a deadly combination of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl.

Atlantic City police found Garcia-Lopez and Arenas suffering from apparent drug overdoses on Sept. 23, 2020; Both men were transported to the AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center City Campus, where Garcia-Lopez was pronounced dead, officials said.

Arenas survived after a medical intervention provided by first responders, the prosecutor’s office said.

Rivera’s plea agreement calls for a sentence of 10 years in state prison subject to the No Early Release Act.

Sentencing is set for Nov. 28.