A criminal group that was dedicated to committing robberies to people they contacted through dating websites, whom they drugged with fentanyl to achieve their goal, is responsible for at least four deaths from overdoses of said drug.
Members of this group, referred to by the authorities as the “gang of fentanyl thieves”targeted people interested in hiring prostitutes on such websites, a press release said.
Gerard Karam, U.S. Attorney for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, revealed that The organization operated from New Hampshire to Virginia.and detailed that the gang members and their associates made arrangements to visit the victim’s location with the intention of robbing him of weapons, cash, cell phones, identification documents, debit and credit cards, drugs and other valuable items.
The defendants were identified as Amanda Marie Correa, 29; Robert Andrew Barnes, 24; Christine Deann DiCarlo, 50; Shaqare Jaymont Blackwell, 23; Shakur Serafin Brownstein, 27; Dylan Wilson Small, 35; and Samual Jordan, 42.
The gang lured men into meeting a woman for a “date” using apps like Plenty of Fish and MeetMe, CBS affiliate WYOU reported.
According to authorities, Correa, nicknamed “Tiny,” is believed to be the leader of the gang and arranged the “dates,” while DiCarlo appeared with her, the cited media added.
There could be more fatalities
The victims were offered drugs, usually cocaine, but They were not told that the narcotics contained fentanyl.If victims refused the drugs, gang members and/or their associates would forcibly administer them to incapacitate them, Karam said.
“If a victim was not incapacitated, or was not incapacitated quickly enough, other members would simply let them into the victim’s home to steal valuables at gunpoint or through other violent means, including threats, beatings and aggravated assault,” prosecutors said.
The group is linked to three deaths in Pennsylvania (in Berks and Luzerne counties) and one in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, but prosecutors said there are likely other victims.
Seven members of the group have been charged with numerous counts, including kidnapping, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to distribute drugs, distribution of fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury, and weapons charges. Some members of the group were affiliated with New York City gangs.Karam said.
The investigation involved multiple state, county and local law enforcement agencies in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire, as well as the FBI and the U.S. Marshals Service in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Keep reading:
– Miami fentanyl trafficker sentenced to 20 years in prison for the death of a person.
– Two Texas women sentenced for causing a fentanyl overdose that killed a young woman.