The man who sold cocaine laced with fentanyl — which led to the death of a 22-year-old victim at Connecticut’s Mohegan Sun Casino — was ordered on Tuesday to spend eight years behind bars.

After his release from prison, Jerrard Santiago, 44, of New Haven, Conn., will be placed on three years of supervised release.

The sentence was handed down by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven federal court.

The drug deal took place on May 18, 2021 in a restroom at the casino.

The purchaser, later identified in news reports as Ethan Bherwani, then 22, overdosed on the gaming floor. Eleven days later he passed away.

Authorities launched an investigation. On February 3, 2023, undercover authorities purchased fentanyl and heroin from Santiago. Later that same month, undercover authorities also purchased fentanyl and cocaine from Santiago.

The following month, he was arrested. On January 29, Santiago pleaded guilty to two counts each of possession with intent to distribute and distribution of a controlled substance.

In April, Judge Meyer ruled that Santiago knowingly distributed the narcotics that caused the victim’s overdose and death, according to Connecticut U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery.

Casino Blamed

The father of the man who died is putting much of the blame on employees at the gaming property.

Ethan Bherwani might have survived the May 18, 2021 incident if responses by the tribal casino were quicker, his father, Kamal Bherwani, a one-time New York City public official, told The New York Post earlier this year.

The younger Bherwani was at the casino celebrating his college graduation when he fell out of a chair at a blackjack table. As he lay not moving on the floor, it’s alleged that no dealers, pit bosses, or any other casino employees intervened on Bherwani’s behalf.

Four and a half minutes after he fell, a casino employee finally checked on Bherwani. EMTs arrived approximately 11 minutes after Bherwani first fell out of the chair, the Post reported.

The crew tried to administer CPR but they couldn’t revive him.

Brain Dead

Bherwani was transported to nearby Hartford Hospital where he was declared brain dead. He died nine days later.

Exams showed that Ethan Bherwani had consumed fentanyl, cocaine, marijuana, and alcohol that night before passing out. It was also revealed that unnamed casino visitors attempted to assist Bherwani while he was on the floor, but Mohegan Sun employees ordered the good Samaritans to move away from the man, the Post reported.

Kamal Bherwani filed a lawsuit against Mohegan Sun claiming the casino was negligent. That suit was dismissed by a Connecticut tribal court though a new lawsuit could be filed.

Casino.org reached out to Mohegan Sun for comment. No immediate statement was provided.

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