Acting New Jersey Attorney General Christopher S. Porrino announced that an alleged Paterson drug dealer and two alleged drug dealers from New York State have been arrested on charges of strict liability for a drug-induced death for allegedly selling the heroin that killed a man in Warwick, N.Y., in April.
The following three people were arrested and charged in New Jersey with strict liability for a drug-induced death, a first-degree charge that carries a sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison:
1. Shameik Byrd, 26, of Paterson, N.J., aka “Homeboy,”
2. Anthony Potts, 27, of Warwick, N.Y., and
3. Noel Ferguson, 20, of Warwick, N.Y., who is Potts’ girlfriend.
Byrd was arrested on June 2. Potts and Ferguson were arrested early last evening at the home where both of them live.
The three defendants were charged in connection with the death of Kean Cabral, 25, of Warwick, N.Y. Cabral was found dead inside his home on the morning of April 3, 2016 as a result of a heroin overdose.
Through task force discussions, the New York prosecutors were aware of New Jersey’s strict liability statute and the potential to prosecute a drug dealer for a first-degree crime based on an overdose death.
In November, the New Jersey and New York Attorneys General announced the arrest of an alleged Paterson drug dealer, Shawn Flemmings, in the death of Stephen Ference in Warwick last year.
The charges against Flemmings are pending.