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Date: 02-28-2024
Case Style:
Case Number: 1:22-cr-00594
Judge: Andrew L. Carter Jr.
Court: The United States Court for the Southern District of New York
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in Bronx
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
Recidivist Drug Trafficker Sentenced To 175 Months In Prison For Causing Overdose Death Of 26-Year-Old Victim .
Roy Escobar was sentenced to 175 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Andrew L. Carter Jr. for his years of fentanyl trafficking, which caused the overdose death of 26-year-old Marcus Mamourian of Brooklyn, New York. ESCOBAR, who previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute narcotics, operated his drug trafficking business alongside his two adult sons, Pablo Escobar and Roy Escobar Jr., who have also pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said: “Roy Escobar’s actions have left a path of ruin in their wake. He contributed to the flood of fentanyl plaguing our communities, causing the death of a young man with a bright future ahead of him. He did all of this despite repeated prior drug trafficking charges and convictions, and he involved his own sons in this criminal activity. Escobar’s sentence is an important step toward bringing justice to his victims, and it reaffirms our unwavering commitment to combating this ongoing fentanyl crisis by holding drug traffickers like Escobar accountable.”
NYPD Commissioner Edward A. Caban said: “This meaningful prison sentence assures New Yorkers that the NYPD and our law enforcement partners refuse to tolerate the illegal distribution of these poisons in our neighborhoods. I commend our courageous undercover officer in this case, and I thank our colleagues at the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, for continuing to be highly effective partners in our public safety mission.”
According to the sentencing papers and the Court’s determinations at the sentencing hearing:
On May 13, 2022, ROY ESCOBAR texted with Marcus Mamourian to arrange a sale of what Mamourian understood to be heroin. Mamourian confided to ESCOBAR that he was “scared about the fent,” i.e., fentanyl, but ESCOBAR reassured Mamourian that he understood the concern, and that he had heroin for sale. At approximately 10:30 p.m. that night, ESCOBAR arrived outside Mamourian’s apartment and sold Mamourian the drugs. Three days later, Mamourian was found dead in his apartment, having overdosed the day prior on the drugs sold to him by ESCOBAR. Unbeknownst to Mamourian, the drugs that he purchased from ESCOBAR in fact contained no heroin, but rather fentanyl and fentanyl analogue — far more potent, and deadly, substances — and Mamourian died as a result of having consumed them.
Following Mamourian’s death, officers with the NYPD recovered Mamourian’s phone and discovered his communications with ESCOBAR. An undercover NYPD officer (the “UC”) subsequently contacted ESCOBAR and began discussions concerning the purchase of narcotics.
ESCOBAR sold fentanyl to the UC eight times over the next several months. Each time, the UC requested heroin and was led to believe that he was buying heroin, but the drugs that ESCOBAR sold in fact contained fentanyl and fentanyl analogue — the same fatal drugs that ESCOBAR sold to Mamourian.
Although ESCOBAR was the primary point of contact for the UC, ESCOBAR also involved his young adult sons, co-defendants Pablo Escobar and Roy Escobar Jr., in the narcotics trafficking. ESCOBAR explained to the UC that if ESCOBAR was ever unavailable, Pablo Escobar would be available to sell narcotics to the UC on ESCOBAR’s behalf. And, on two separate occasions, ESCOBAR sent Roy Escobar Jr. to deliver the drugs to the UC in ESCOBAR’s place.
On October 18, 2022, ESCOBAR and his sons were arrested in connection with this investigation. Later that day, NYPD officers conducted searches of ESCOBAR’s residence in East Rockaway, New York, and a nearby storage unit rented in Roy Escobar Jr.’s name. During their searches, the officers recovered approximately 4.5 kilograms of cocaine, 198 grams of fentanyl analogue, five grams of crack cocaine, 163 grams of methamphetamine, and drug trafficking paraphernalia, including drug packaging materials that matched packaging recovered from Mamourian’s apartment, near Mamourian’s body.
The investigation further revealed that ESCOBAR had been significantly involved in this pattern of narcotics trafficking since at least as early as April 2018. Specifically, the evidence showed that beginning in April 2018, a Venmo account used by ESCOBAR for drug sales received more than 2,000 separate payments, with an average transaction amount of $168.74 and a total amount of $347,772.25.
ESCOBAR engaged in much of this conduct, including the sale of fatal drugs to Mamourian, while he was already facing pending drug charges in New York state court. ESCOBAR had also previously been convicted for narcotics offenses in 2015 and 2002.
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Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
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