Brooklyn Man Sentenced to More Than 13 Years’ Imprisonment for Distributing Fentanyl That Caused Overdose Death

Earlier today, in federal court in Brooklyn, Elijah Morales was sentenced by United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan to 158 months’ imprisonment for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of an individual referred to in the indictment as “John Doe.”

Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Ricky J. Patel, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations, New York (HSI New York), and Jessica S. Tisch, Commissioner, New York City Police Department (NYPD), announced the sentence.

“Far too many people have died tragically from the scourge of fentanyl and other illicit drugs,” stated United States Attorney Nocella.  “While nothing can bring back this or the other countless victims, hopefully today’s outcome can send a strong message to would-be fentanyl dealers that can save future lives.”

“The defendant's actions were nothing short of reprehensible — peddling a deadly poison, watching his victim succumb to its effects, and then callously delaying lifesaving aid while attempting to cover up his crime, stated HSI New York Special Agent in Charge Patel. “This case exemplifies the devastating consequences of fentanyl distribution and the calculated cruelty of those who profit from it. Together with our partners from the NYPD and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York, we will not rest until we dismantle these criminal networks and bring justice to the families devastated by their greed and cruelty.”

“Elijah Morales allegedly distributed dangerous fentanyl, prioritized drug profits over people’s safety, and flooded our city with his poison,” stated NYPD Commissioner Tisch. “With a chance to save the life of someone overdosing, Morales chose to save himself, delaying a life-or-death call to 911 to cover up his crimes. I would like to thank our NYPD investigators and partners at HSI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for their work in removing this individual off our streets.”

As set forth in court filings, on June 21, 2023, at approximately 4:00 a.m., an anonymous caller to 911 (later determined to be Morales) reported that he had found an unknown individual—John Doe—unconscious in the stairwell of an apartment building in Brooklyn where the defendant’s grandmother resided.  Morales claimed on the call that he had gone out to smoke a cigarette when he observed John Doe next to the staircase in the hallway of the dwelling.  Shortly thereafter, medics arrived and attempted to revive John Doe but were unsuccessful.  John Doe’s cause of death was acute fentanyl intoxication.

The investigation revealed that Morales lied to the 911 operator. In reality, he had distributed narcotics to John Doe at or around 2:20 a.m.—approximately two hours prior to his call to 911 and approximately three hours before John Doe was pronounced dead. Among other evidence, surveillance footage from the second-floor landing of the dwelling showed Morales and John Doe engaging in a drug transaction at 2:20 a.m.

The investigation further showed that while John Doe laid unconscious in the stairwell of the dwelling, Morales delayed calling 911 by at least approximately one hour while he scrubbed the scene of evidence of his drug sale to John Doe.  The evidence showed that at around 2:50 a.m., John Doe’s mother began repeatedly calling John Doe after Doe failed to respond to text messages from his mother.  Video surveillance footage from the dwelling featured the sound of John Doe’s cellphone ringing as John Doe laid unconscious at the bottom of the staircase.  From around 3:15 a.m. through 4:06 a.m., surveillance footage from the second floor of the dwelling depicted the Morales entering and exiting his apartment and picking up various items from the floor of the hallway while John Doe’s cellphone sporadically played in the background.  At around 3:54 a.m., the surveillance footage depicted Morales as he exited his apartment, picked up a bag of white powder from the stairwell floor—consistent in appearance with the bag in which he had delivered the fatal drugs to John Doe—held up the bag to observe the remains of its contents, and then re-entered his apartment.

At approximately 4:07 a.m., Morales contacted 911 and falsely claimed that John Doe was an unknown individual asleep in the hallway of his grandmother’s building. Surveillance footage captured from the first-floor landing during the 911 call showed the defendant speaking with a 911 operator while John Doe laid unconscious at the bottom of the stairwell.

The government’s case is being handled by the Office’s Public Integrity Section.  Assistant United States  Attorney Sean M. Sherman is in charge of the prosecution.

The Defendant:

ELIJAH MORALES
Age:  24
Brooklyn, New York

E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 23-CR-526 (BMC)