Federal prosecutors charge Grei Mendez and Carlisto Acevedo Brito with two drug charges in death of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici of the Bronx
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District Damian Williams announces charges against two defendants charged with running an alleged drug operation from a day care center in the Bronx. Credit: ED QUINN
A woman and a man already facing murder charges in the fentanyl death of toddler at a Bronx day care center were hit with major federal drug conspiracy charges in connection with that homicide, as well as the drug poisoning of three other children, officials announced Tuesday.
Grei Mendez, 36, of the Bronx, who officials said was the female caregiver at the Divino Nino center, and Carlisto Acevedo Brito, 41, also of the Bronx, were charged in a federal criminal complaint with a conspiracy to distribute narcotics which resulted in death and a related drug possession charge.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opioid.
Both Mendez and Brito face state depraved indifference murder and other charges in Bronx criminal court stemming from the death over the weekend of 1-year-old Nicholas Dominici of the Bronx of fentanyl poisoning.
At a news conference announcing the federal charges, Manhattan U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said the incident was an example of “unconscionable” conduct that he said was “inexcusable.” Both defendants face up to life in prison if convicted. Arraignment information on the latest charges wasn’t available late Tuesday.
While Williams said his office and the Drug Enforcement Administration have been investigating fentanyl trafficking for years, he said the day care case was stunning and underscored the danger the drug is now posing to the city and the nation.
“This case is different," he said. "We allege that the defendants poisoned four babies and killed one of them because they were running a drug operation from a day care center, a day care center, a place where children should be kept safe, not surrounded by a drug that could kill them in an instant.”
According to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, from July through September, the defendants and others conspired to distributed fentanyl at the day care center, located on Morris Avenue.
It was at the center “despite the daily presence of children, including infants,” that Mendez and Brito stored large quantities of fentanyl, including 2.2 pounds on top of children playmats. The defendants also had drug paraphernalia such as “kilo presses” used to prepare narcotics for distribution at the center, the complaint alleged.
Dominici died despite efforts by police and FDNY medics to administer the antidote Narcan, which actually helped the other three child victims — whose ages ranged from eight months to two years — recover from the poisoning over the weekend, officials said.
The day care center operated out of a small apartment consisting of a bedroom, playroom, bathroom and kitchen, the complaint said.
Both Mendez and Brito made statements to investigators after they were arrested over the weekend. Officials said the two admitted using the apartment but denied trafficking in drugs and said the kilo presses had been left by a prior occupant of the apartment.
Frank A. Tarentino, special agent in charge of the DEA in New York, said fentanyl is fabricated mainly in Mexico with chemical shipped from China.
Anthony M. DeStefano has been a reporter for Newsday since 1986 and covers law enforcement, criminal justice and legal affairs from its New York City offices.
