Queens Trio Charged In Forest Hills Fentanyl Overdose Deaths

FOREST HILLS, QUEESN -- Detectives have traced the fentanyl behind two fatal overdoses in Forest Hills to one Jamaica man operating a drug ring with two fellow Queens distributers, federal prosecutors said.

A 10-count indictment unsealed in Brooklyn federal court Tuesday accuses David Wickham, 35, of selling the lethal drug disguised as heroin - fentanyl is up to 50 times more potent - first to a Forest Hills pair who died overdosing on it in July 2017, and then to another man who suffered a near-fatal overdose in September.

Two other Queens woman - Katelyn Trampler, 27, and Crystal Roberts, 28- were also alleged to be involved in peddling fentanyl and heroin with Wickham from a St. Albans home, according to the indictment. The trio allegedly wired some of the profits to Panama to expand their drug ring and hide the illegal money

"The defendants sought to profit from other people's addiction and put their own greed ahead of the public's health and safety," said U.S. District Attorney Richard Donoghue.

Wickham and Trampler are accused of selling the fentanyl and heroin for more than a year from January 2017 until their February 2018 arrest, according to court filings. Several times, Wickham allegedly told his customers they were getting heroin when they were actually getting the much more potent fentanyl.

Federal prosecutors alleged it was Wickham's fentanyl that allegedly killed a Forest Hills man and a woman who overdosed on July 30, 2017, and his heroin-fentanyl combination that nearly killed another man who had to be revived from an overdose with naloxone just five months later.

Wickham, already a convicted felon, was busted on Feb. 27 with a semi-automatic gun on him, and Trampler was arrested a few days later. Both have been in federal custody since.

As part of a lengthy investigation into the drug trafficking ring, NYPD and federal agents found a video on Roberts' phone from February in which she and Wickham discussed a customer who they thought would "end up dying" from the drugs, according to the indictument.

"I don’t have time for that," Roberts allegedly said in the video. "You can kill yourself if you want to, I don’t want you to, but this is the game we play, and you’re going to have to give me some bread cause you took too much and your man’s took too much.”

Roberts was arrested Tuesday and charged with money laundering conspiracy.

If convicted, Wickham faces anywhere from 20 years to life in federal prison for the crimes. Trampler and Roberts could serve up to 20 and 40 years, respectively.

Lead photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images