Geoffrey S. Berman, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that FRANKIE BEQIRAJ was sentenced to 25 years in prison for leading a conspiracy to distribute heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, and alprazolam in the Bronx and Westchester. BEQIRAJ personally distributed heroin that resulted in the death of Robert Vivolo, a 25-year-old man from City Island, New York. BEQIRAJ was convicted after trial on June 11, 2018, before United States District Judge Richard M. Berman, who also imposed today’s sentence.
U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman said: “Frankie Beqiraj ran a crew of employees that distributed heroin throughout the City Island community, often hiring addicts and paying them in cash and drugs. His callousness and greed ultimately led to the overdose death of 25-year-old Robert Vivolo. Now, Beqiraj has been sentenced for his crimes and will spend significant time in prison.”
According to court documents and the evidence at trial:
From July 2016 to January 2017, BEQIRAJ was the principal drug supplier of the small Bronx community of City Island. BEQIRAJ employed workers, who were themselves heroin addicts and were supplied drugs by BEQIRAJ, to deliver narcotics to his customers using prepaid phones supplied by BEQIRAJ. These workers were paid their salaries in money and heroin. Through his organization, BEQIRAJ distributed large quantities of heroin, cocaine, oxycodone, and alprazolam.
On October 21, 2016, BEQIRAJ sold heroin to Robert Vivolo, a recovering heroin addict, on City Island, New York. BEQIRAJ’s heroin caused Vivolo to die from an overdose that night.
The Court also found that, on or about January 9, 2017, one of Beqiraj’s workers distributed heroin to three additional individuals, all of whom overdosed. One of those individuals died as a result of the overdose; the two others survived, having been revived with naloxone.
In addition to the prison term, BEQIRAJ, 28, of the Bronx, New York, was sentenced to five years of supervised release.
U.S. Attorney Berman praised the outstanding work of the New York City Police Department’s Bronx Narcotics Heroin Overdose Team, the New Rochelle Police Department, and the Special Agents of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York.
