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 the teen in July 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.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was the son of De Niro’s adopted daughter Drena, 51, and artist Carlos Rodriguez.
The legendary actor’s grandson, Leandro, died at the age of 18 in New York City . A white powdery substance was found on a plate near his body. They are pictured together in happier times
Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro has died at the age of 18 (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 Leandro 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 Leandro in the week leading up to his death, according to the court document.
She ‘knew the pills she was providing to (Leandro) 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 Leandro ‘I don’t want to kill you’.
‘Do u rly need them…’ she wrote, per the indictment, adding: ‘Ion wanna kill you’.
Leandro replied: ‘Huh? Elaborate.’
‘What’s confusing abt that?’ the dealer asked, and Leandro 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).’
Nonetheless, Leandro purchased three fentanyl pills and two Xanax the next day for $105, and requested that they be delivered by car service.
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.
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.’
This is a breaking news story.
