Matthew Podolsky, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that Raul Silva has been sentenced to 12 years in prison. U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel delivered the sentence for Silva's role in selling thousands of doses of narcotics, including fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, and heroin. The drugs led to the death of a 66-year-old woman in July 2019.

"Raul Silva made a career of endangering lives by distributing illegal narcotics, some of which were laced with deadly fentanyl and acetyl," said Acting U.S. Attorney Matthew Podolsky. "Silva’s disregard for others eventually caused the tragic and untimely death of a 66-year-old woman, who overdosed on a laced dose supplied by Silva."

Court documents revealed that between February 2019 and July 2019, Silva conspired with a co-defendant to sell over 4,000 glassines containing combinations of fentanyl, acetyl fentanyl, heroin, and other drugs to an undercover NYPD officer on eight occasions. These transactions followed years of criminal activity by Silva, who had 14 prior convictions.

The victim was a longtime client residing in Chelsea, Manhattan. On July 11, 2019, Silva sold her several glassines containing lethal substances near her residence. She died shortly after consuming them and was found two days later by her daughter.

In addition to his prison term, Silva will face five years of supervised release upon completion of his sentence.

Mr. Podolsky praised the investigative efforts of the NYPD in this case. The prosecution is managed by the Office’s Narcotics Unit with Assistant United States Attorneys Jonathan L. Bodansky and Matthew Weinberg leading the effort alongside Paralegal Specialist Owen Foley.