Two former USS Abraham Lincoln crewmembers have admitted selling counterfeit oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl to active-duty Navy sailors, including one sailor who later died of a fentanyl overdose.
Bailey A. Szramowski, 29, and his wife, Johnnese H. Poomaihealani, 25, pleaded guilty Monday to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
Under the terms of Szramowski’s plea agreement, he began selling cocaine and pills labeled “Percocet” to fellow crewmembers no later than August 2022. Although the pills were presented as oxycodone, they contained fentanyl.
The plea agreement states that Szramowski did not tell buyers the pills were fentanyl-laced.
On Dec. 30, 2022, a USS Abraham Lincoln crewmember identified in court documents as A.N. purchased 10 pills from Szramowski.
A.N. overdosed and died on Jan. 3, 2023. A coroner later determined that the sailor died after ingesting fentanyl.
Despite the death, Szramowski continued selling pills from the same supply.
Ten days after A.N.’s death, Szramowski sold three more pills purported to be oxycodone to another active-duty sailor, identified as C.L. The sailor suffered an apparent overdose and was hospitalized but survived.
Szramowski and Poomaihealani later contacted C.L. and told him to claim that A.N.—who had recently died from the same drug supply—had provided the pills.
Poomaihealani admitted that she told C.L. during a phone call:
“Look, do not . . . say ____ to NCIS okay, do not say anything to NCIS. That’s all you need to do,” Poomaihealani admitted to telling C.L. “Just delete everything.”
Instead, C.L. agreed to cooperate with investigators.
Szramowski also tried to hide the drugs’ source by asking A.N.’s family to delete text messages he had sent to A.N.’s phone. The family refused.
Szramowski told the family that the messages could damage his future or lead to criminal charges if they were not deleted.
Court records say Szramowski sold the counterfeit pills to at least two sailors while working with Poomaihealani. Both defendants are listed as being from Hawaii.
Szramowski faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison, a maximum sentence of 40 years and a potential fine of up to $5 million. Poomaihealani faces up to 20 years in prison and a possible $1 million fine.
Both defendants are scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ruth Bermudez Montenegro on Dec. 11, 2026.
Special agents and task force officers from HSI San Diego’s Fentanyl Abatement and Suppression Team led the investigation.
The multiagency task force was created in August 2022 to disrupt and dismantle criminal organizations involved in smuggling and distributing fentanyl across San Diego County.
