Five people have been arrested following the death of Robert De Niro‘s grandson, who fatally overdosed on recreational drugs two years ago.
Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas have been charged with allegedly supplying the pills that killed three teenagers in 2023.
The legendary actor’s grandson, Leandro, died at the age of 19 in New York City on July 2, 2023. A white powdery substance was found on a plate near his body.
The teenager’s lifeless body was found sitting in a chair inside a $950,000, one-bedroom apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street in Manhattan.
The five suspects are accused of running a New York drug ring, supplying thousands of counterfeit prescription pills to teens and young adults, according to the indictment seen by the Daily Mail.
Three of the alleged dealers were known around the Big Apple with the nicknames ‘Dizzy,’ ‘Tea,’ and ‘John John.’
Sources told the New York Post that one of the three teenagers they are accused of supplying deadly drugs to was Leandro, known in the court papers as ‘victim 3’. The age, location, and date of death for ‘victim 3’ matches Leandro’s.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was the only son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena, 51, and artist Carlos Rodriguez.
The legendary actor’s grandson, Leandro, died at the age of 19 in New York City. A white powdery substance was found on a plate near his body. (Pictured: De Niro and Leandro)
The legendary actor’s grandson, Leandro, died at the age of 19 in New York City on July 2, 2023. A white powdery substance was found on a plate near his body. The above photograph from the indictment released this week is an evidence photograph from ‘victim 3’s file
De Niro’s grandson Leandro died in 2023 (pictured with his mother Drena and grandfather)
De Niro paid tribute at the time, writing: ‘I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo.
‘We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone.’
The indictment obtained by the Daily Mail states that ‘victim 3’ purchased drugs from an unnamed female distributor, known as ‘CC-1’ in court papers, who had sourced the pills from Epperson and Barreto.
‘CC-1’ sold ‘a mix of fentanyl pills and Xanax’ to ‘victim 3’ in the week leading up to his death, according to the court document.
She ‘knew the pills she was providing to victim 3 were strong and warned (him) to be careful when taking the pills,’ the indictment reads.
During their transaction on June 30, the dealer even told ‘victim 3’ ‘I don’t want to kill you’.
‘Do u rly need them…’ she wrote, per the indictment, adding: ‘Ion wanna kill you (sic)’.
‘Victim 3’ replied: ‘Huh? Elaborate.’
‘What’s confusing abt that?’ the dealer asked, and ‘victim 3’ said: ‘Sorry I b mad paranoid’, adding ‘I misinterpreted this’.
The dealer warned him, ‘ I j(ust) don’t like serving them cuz they not script (prescription).’
De Niro paid tribute at the time of Leandro’s death. ‘I’m deeply distressed by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo. We’re greatly appreciative of the condolences from everyone’, he wrote
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was the son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena, 51
Leandro was the only son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena , 51. They are pictured together
Nonetheless, ‘victim 3’ purchased three fentanyl pills and two Xanax the next day for $105, and requested that they be delivered by car service.
They arranged for a car to drop the pills off close to ‘CC-1’s home in Midtown Manhattan. She placed the drugs in a United States Postal Service envelope, and delivered them to ‘victim 3”s friend’s apartment in downtown.
The pills were delivered shortly after 9.15pm that day. A few hours later, at 1.50am on July 2, the female distributor texted ‘victim 3’ asking: ‘u good?’
He never replied. Later that morning, he was found dead inside his friend’s apartment.
Separate to the five arrests today, an alleged dealer known as the ‘Percocet Princess,’ 20-year-old Sophia Haley Marks, was charged with selling the drugs to De Niro Rodriguez.
De Niro’s young grandson lived alone in the upscale sixth-floor apartment where he died. He had been renting the unit for less than a year. The apartment is located in the same stone building as Cipriani, a luxury venue for events.
Separately, an alleged dealer known as the ‘Percocet Princess,’ 20-year-old Sophia Haley Marks (pictured in a court sketch), was charged with selling the drugs to De Niro Rodriguez
The teenager’s lifeless body was found sitting in a chair inside a $950,000, one-bedroom apartment in the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street in downtown Manhattan
The building’s concierge told the Daily Mail at the time that Leandro as a friendly young man, who’d always say hello when he came and went.
‘I’d see him every now and then, and he’d always say hi,’ the concierge said. ‘He just was friendly, kept to himself.’
‘I didn’t know who he was until I read the story,’ he said. ‘It’s a tragedy. I was just talking to my coworker that said my daughter just turned 20. You see his (Leandro’s) picture, he was a baby.’
Leandro’s death was ruled an accident, and the New York City medical examiner’s office determined the cause as toxic effects of fentanyl, bromazolam, alprazolam, 7-aminoclonazepam, ketamine and cocaine.
