Robert De Niro’s grandson: 5 charged in connection with the death
Five alleged drug traffickers are facing criminal charges in connection with the death of Leandro De Niro Rodriguez, the grandson of acting legend Robert De Niro.
The quintet were indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Prosecutors allege that the men were “members of a criminal network that distributed thousands of counterfeit prescription pills laced with fentanyl, among other drugs” to young men and teens living in New York City.
The men arrested by officials in New York this week — Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barretto, John Nicholas and Roy Nicholas — allegedly used social media to sell drugs. “The men’s drug trade had deadly consequences: over a period of three months in the summer of 2023,” prosecutors stressed, claiming that their drugs led to the deaths of three 19-year-olds.
Although the indictment did not reveal the identities of the victims, law enforcement confirmed the deaths involved De Niro Rodriguez in July 2023, according to numerous Reports. At the time of her son’s death, actress and producer Drina De Niro — the Oscar winner’s eldest daughter with his ex-wife Diane Abbott — said “someone had sold out.” [Leandro] Fentanyl pills that they knew were laced but still sold to him.
A month after the young “A Star Is Born” actor’s death, the New York City Chief Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that De Niro Rodriguez died of a drug overdose, stating that he succumbed to the toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.
Akira Stein, the daughter of Blondie co-founder Chris Stein, was also an alleged victim. Stein He announced the death of his daughter In July 2023, months after her death “at the end of May of an overdose.”
“The DEA and the US Attorneys for the Southern District of New York have been extremely compassionate and respectful throughout this process and I cannot thank them enough for this hope of getting some justice for her,” Stein wrote in response. News of arrests Thursday. “Please be careful.”
Shortly after De Niro Rodriguez’s death, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York confirmed that law enforcement had arrested a woman, an alleged drug dealer known as the “Percocet Princess,” in connection with his death. She was arrested for selling drugs to De Niro Rodriguez.
In a statement issued in July 2023, Killers of the Flower Moon and Raging Bull star De Niro said: “I am deeply saddened by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo.”
“We greatly appreciate everyone’s condolences,” he added. “We ask that we be given privacy to mourn our loss of Assad.”