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By Tara Law Aug. 8, 2018
A St. Albans man who sold fentanyl that killed two Forest Hills residents has been slapped with a 10-count superseding indictment, according to court documents that were unsealed yesterday.
David Wickham, 35, was charged in federal court in Brooklyn with distributing fentanyl that caused the overdose of a man and woman in Forest Hills in July 2017. He also faces charges for distributing heroin and fentanyl to a man who nearly died in a Dec. 2017 overdose.
Wickham, if convicted, faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years for distributing drugs that resulted in death, as well as for distributing drugs that nearly caused a death. He faces up to life imprisonment for these three charges.
Wickham was originally charged in February with a two-count indictment for distributing and conspiring to distribute more than 40 grams of fentanyl in Queens.
The superseding indictment that upgraded Wickham’s charges also included charges filed against a 27-year-old Queens woman. Katelyn Trampler has been charged with conspiring to distribute and distributing fentanyl and heroin. She faces up to 40 years in prison.
Wickham and a third defendant, Crystal Roberts, 28, of Queens, were also charged with money laundering. Roberts faces up to 20 years imprisonment.
Wickham and Trampler allegedly sold drugs from Wickham’s St. Albans home. Wickham allegedly misled buyers by representing the narcotics as heroin, but the drugs were the more potent drug fentanyl, according to the indictment.
Wickham gave the Forest Hills pair fentanyl on July 30, 2017. They overdosed and ultimately died.
Then on Dec. 13, 2017, another man overdosed on heroin and fentanyl he had procured from Wickham, the indictment said. The man was revived with a dose of the drug Narcan, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
Wickham was also charged for possessing a Cobra Enterprises FS380 semi-automatic pistol.
Additionally, Wickham and Roberts were charged with participating in a money-laundering scheme. The pair conspired to wire funds to Panama to help hide their drug trafficking and to disguise drug money.
Investigators seized a few phones from the defendants, which contained several videos. In one video, Roberts and Wickham discuss one of their clients.
“He’s gonna end up dying. He’s gonna kill himself,” Roberts said.
“Yeah, you see it in his face?” Wickham said.
“Yup,” said Roberts. “You ever known, seen death in a face?”
U.S. Attorney Richard Donoghue condemned the defendants’ actions and declared his office’s commitment to pursuing dealers.
“The defendants sought to profit from other people’s addictions and put their own greed ahead of the public’s health and safety,” Donoghue said. “This Office and our law enforcement partners will not rest until drug dealers and their associates are stopped and brought to justice for their crimes.”
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