One of the drug dealers in the Brooklyn crew that sold Michael K. Williams a lethal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin was sentenced to five years behind bars Tuesday in the actor’s tragic overdose death.
Luis Cruz, 58, was handed down the lightest possible penalty by Manhattan federal court Judge Ronnie Abrams after he pleaded guilty to narcotics conspiracy in April for dealing heroin and fentanyl-laced heroin with the Williamsburg-based crew.
The group of four is responsible for selling Williams – who played Omar Little on HBO’s “The Wire” – the drug dose that killed him on Sept. 5, 2021.
Cruz – who goes by the nickname “Mostro” – faced a mandatory minimum of five years imprisonment and a maximum of 40 years.
At his April 13 plea hearing, Cruz said he peddled drugs to pay for his own addiction and to make ends meet.
He also said he turned a blind eye to the fact that some of the drugs he pushed contained fentanyl – the deadly synthetic opioid which is about 50 to 100 times stronger than heroin.
Williams, 54, was found dead in his luxury Williamsburg penthouse on Sept. 6, 2021, a day after he was captured on surveillance video buying the drugs from Irvin Cartagena – another member of the crew – in front of an apartment building on South 3rd Street near Havermeyer Street.
Cartagena, 40 – who goes by “Green Eyes” – also took a plea deal and was sentenced to a much heavier penalty of 10 years behind bars for being the one who physically handed the substance to Williams.
He fled to Puerto Rico before he was arrested in February 2022 and brought back to New York to face charges.
Carlos Macci, 71 – aka Carlito – was given the most lenient sentence so far in the case of just two-and-a-half years in July.
“The Wire” co-creator David Simon asked the judge to go easy on Macci, saying that Williams “bears the fuller responsibility” for the heartbreaking incident. Simon also highlighted Williams’ opposition to mass incarceration and the failed war on drugs.
Hector Robles – who goes by “Oreja” – is the final of the four left to be sentenced and he also faces a mandatory minimum of five years and a maximum of 40 years after pleading guilty to narcotics conspiracy.
His sentencing hearing is scheduled for Oct. 20.
The crew sold drugs in broad daylight from at least August 2020 and through February 2022, prosecutors said.
Cruz’s lawyer didn’t return a request for comment Tuesday.