Five additional suspects have been arrested in connection with the overdose death of actor Robert De Niro’s grandson, Leandro De Niro-Rodriguez, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) has announced.
According to an Oct. 30 press release, the defendants—Bruce Epperson, Grant McIver, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas, and Roy Nicolas—have been charged with “participating in a conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and other drugs,” resulting in the deaths of De Niro-Rodriguez, Akira Stein—the daughter of Blondie co-founder Chris Stein—and a third unnamed victim, all aged 19.
“On or about May 30, 2023, Stein—who is identified in the Indictment as Victim-1—died in her family’s apartment in downtown Manhattan after ingesting fentanyl-laced pills that she had purchased from John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas one day earlier,” the report states. “Over the six months leading up to her fatal overdose, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas repeatedly sold numerous fentanyl-laced pills to Stein. Stein suffered multiple non-fatal overdoses as a result of ingesting those pills.”…