Moises Freire, 19, has been indicted on federal charges alleging he drugged and raped a Fashion Institute of Technology student in her dorm before she died of fentanyl poisoning.
Freire, of the Bronx, now faces charges of participating in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy and distributing a deadly drug with intent to commit rape, prosecutors announced Thursday. His co-defendant Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, was also charged in the drug conspiracy. Both men were first arrested in March and pleaded not guilty to earlier charges that did not include the rape allegation. They remain in federal custody and have yet to be arraigned on the new indictment.
The deadly encounter unfolded on March 18, when Freire brought fentanyl to the students’ dorm room and falsely claimed the substance was pure cocaine, according to prosecutors. Freire had previously described the drug as “straight poison.” At his urging, the women took it and almost immediately lost consciousness. Freire was not an FIT student. The woman he is accused of raping fell into a coma and died March 21. Her friend also overdosed and nearly died.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariana Bloom told Judge Sidney Stein at an April hearing that Freire admitted in a written statement to campus security that he had sex with the woman and only realized afterward that she was unconscious. Freire said he then looked to his left and saw her friend unconscious on the floor “with her eyes rolled back in her head,” Bloom continued. Rather than seeking immediate help, Freire waited approximately 45 minutes and sent photos of the unconscious women to others, prosecutors said. When he finally approached campus security, he claimed the women had simply drunk too much.
At that same April hearing, Freire’s lawyer, Mitchell Schwartz, framed the events leading to the overdoses as youthful recklessness. He told Judge Stein that the woman had invited Freire over and suggested he wear a wig and “look like a girl” to sneak into her dorm room. Schwartz called the death a tragedy but maintained Freire was not trying to ply the students with drugs.
“It’s not dumb teenager things to give somebody fentanyl, sir,” Stein fired back.
A third defendant, Harry Rosales Pino, pleaded guilty in September to conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Christopher Roberts, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration New York Task Force Division, condemned the allegations in a statement Thursday.
“College should be a place where young people can learn, grow, and pursue their dreams, not a place where predators exploit their vulnerability,” Roberts said. “Every student deserves to feel safe, whether walking across campus, sitting in a classroom, or inside their own dorm room.”
Roberts added that the allegations were “beyond disturbing and include a cruel deception and unimaginable assault.”
If convicted, Freire and Peralta Cabrera face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a possible life sentence. Neither victim was identified in court papers. The Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the State University of New York, was not named in filings, though a defense lawyer mentioned it during a prior hearing.
Freire and Peralta Cabrera are expected to be arraigned on the superseding indictment in the coming weeks.