Authorities have apprehended five individuals in connection with the tragic death of Robert De Niro’s grandson, who succumbed to a drug overdose two years ago.
Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas, and Roy Nicolas face charges related to the distribution of pills that resulted in the deaths of three teenagers in 2023.
Leandro, the esteemed actor’s grandson, passed away at 19 on July 2, 2023, in New York City. Near his body, authorities discovered a plate with a white powdery substance.
The teenager was found deceased in a chair within a $950,000 one-bedroom apartment at the Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street, Manhattan.
The accused are suspected of operating a New York-based drug operation, allegedly distributing thousands of counterfeit prescription pills to adolescents and young adults, as detailed in an indictment reviewed by the Daily Mail.
Among the alleged dealers, three were locally recognized by the monikers ‘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, called ‘victim 3’ in the court papers. 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, the indictment states.
Separate from 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.
