Three people accused by the U.S. Department of Justice of supplying fatal doses of fentanyl to two Hawaii men who died last month at a Waikiki hotel pleaded not guilty Monday.
Keina Breit Drageset, 26, and Avery James Garrard, 31, are accused of smuggling drugs into the state through the mail and providing them to Jeffrey P. Waz, 63.
“As we see fentanyl increasingly showing up in our investigations, we can expect more users to suffer death or serious bodily injury from fentanyl overdoses,” U.S. Attorney Clare E. Connors told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. “We will continue to work with our state and county law enforcement partners to coordinate the collection of evidence and to bring criminal charges that address the seriousness of the criminal conduct, including charges that come with a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years and a potential life sentence without parole.”
All three entered not-guilty pleas Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield.
“Ms. Drageset has entered a plea of not guilty regarding the tragic deaths associated with the abuse of illegal recreational drugs,” her attorney, Myles S. Breiner, told the Star-Advertiser.
Waz’s attorney, Andrew M. Kennedy, and Garrard’s attorney, Neal J. Kugiya, declined comment. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall H. Silverberg is prosecuting the case.
Authorities allege Waz gave the drugs to a fourth person, Joseph Alvin Hamil, 57, the street-side dealer of the operation. Hamil is accused of giving the victims fentanyl by mistake and is scheduled to make his initial appearance and enter a plea Wednesday in Mansfield’s court. Both Waz and Hamil are reportedly cooperating with the investigation being run by Honolulu police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Hamil is accused of providing the fentanyl to 53-year-old Steven Berengue and 44-year-old Joseph Iseke, who both died after overdosing at a hotel party June 3. Iseke, of Kailua, was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency personnel responded to a call at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort. Berengue, of Kailua-Kona, was taken to a hospital, where died within 24 hours of being found.
Three other victims, who survived, told authorities they thought Iseke was chopping up “cocaine and/or molly and all three snorted the substances allegedly not knowing they contained fentanyl,” according to federal court records. The term “molly” refers to the powdered form of MDMA, a stimulant that alters mood and perception.
Waz, Garrard and Drageset are accused of a controlled-substance conspiracy resulting in death and serious bodily injury, according to an eight-count indictment handed down Thursday by a federal grand jury.
On May 10 and 18, Waz allegedly joined the conspiracy by selling between one and five ounces of fentanyl that he obtained from Garrard.
On June 3, Hamil planned to sell “a ball” of meth, or 3.5 grams, to Iseke but mistakenly gave him one gram of fentanyl that he allegedly got from Waz, and one gram of heroin, according to federal court documents.
Additionally, Waz, Garrard and Hamil are charged with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury. Waz and Drageset are also accused of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Drageset, a former model who allegedly led the drug trafficking organization, was also charged with attempted possession with intent to distribute of a controlled substance for trying to get fentanyl through the U.S. Postal Service on June 23, and with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance after authorities allegedly found fentanyl during a search of her white Tesla.
On June 4 at about 6:22 a.m., HPD and Emergency Medical Services responded to a 911 call from one of the surviving victims, who woke up at the resort after blacking out from partying.
HPD found five victims in a hotel room who were either unresponsive or needed medical attention. Authorities said substances found at the scene tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl. Police said “multiple types of drugs were found at the scene,” including a small baggie with a white crystalline substance, along with a glass pipe, and black-tar heroin.
During the investigation, DEA agents obtained hotel records for the room where the overdoses occurred and spoke to the person who had booked the room and who had been taken to the hospital in critical condition.
Agents also spoke with another victim, who described Berengue as an old friend and said the group had run into him coming back to the hotel from a concert. According to the criminal complaint, Berengue said he had consumed alcohol earlier and “may have used methamphetamine that day, but could not recall.”
Berengue claimed that Iseke brought crystal methamphetamine to the room “but was not sure what the other drugs were.”
The victim who had described Berengue as an old friend said he snorted a white powder in the hotel room, which he allegedly got from Iseke, and “within a few minutes” blacked out.
Investigators found text message exchanges on Iseke’s phone that occurred between June 3 and 4. Iseke allegedly texted Hamil asking about the “pinkish purple powder” that was included in his drug order, according to federal court documents.
Hamil allegedly replied, “Exactly what I’ve been looking for all night. Hope you still have it. Should be a bag with brown and one with purple. I have to return that stuff. Call me in the morning please? Big, big mistake. Running around like an idiot today and went all different directions at once. Anyways call me in the morning if can so I can run by. Thanks bro”
According to USPS business records, since March 20 five parcels have been sent from Los Angeles, San Diego and Palm Desert, Calif., to Drageset’s apartment in the 800 block of Kapiolani Boulevard.
On June 23, DEA and FBI agents with a warrant to search the home found multiple baggies of suspected controlled substances in plain view on the kitchen table, along with paraphernalia for distribution. Investigators also found about $150,219 in a safe “along with controlled substances that tested positive for the presence of fentanyl.”
A laptop that was logged on to the “dark web,” with multiple online marketplaces saved for ordering illegal drugs, was also found, according to the complaint.
