4 men charged after overdose death of Michael K. Williams

Four men have been charged members of a drug distribution crew that delivered a lethal combination of drugs to Michael K. Williams, the famed actor from “The Wire” who died of a drug overdose just hours after purchasing fentanyl-laced heroin in a sale caught on surveillance camera film.

Irvin Cartagena, the guy shown on tape offering the pills to Williams on a Brooklyn sidewalk, was charged with directly causing the actor’s death, according to investigators.

The New York City police department investigated Williams’ death, but the charges were filed by federal prosecutors in Manhattan, who disclosed that the suspects had been under observation even before the actor’s deadly overdose last September.

When Williams’ death was discovered on Sept. 6, the vials of pills recovered with him had the same label, “AAA Insurance,” as the ones bought by the officer.

The NYPD’s informant returned the day after the actor’s death to acquire additional narcotics from the same gang, capturing a discussion in which several members of the crew discussed Williams’ overdose. One denied selling any fentanyl-containing medications.

Cartagena and the other three suspects were apprehended on Tuesday. Three people appeared in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday for the first time. Cartagena’s first court appearance in Puerto Rico, where he was detained, is set on Thursday.

Williams, 54, was discovered dead in his Brooklyn penthouse residence on September 6.