A student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology died after allegedly taking fentanyl that a man falsely presented as cocaine, federal prosecutors said Thursday. Prosecutors also accuse the man of sexually assaulting the unconscious student. Her friend took the drug as well and nearly died.
Moises Freire, 19, of the Bronx, faces charges of joining a fentanyl distribution conspiracy and supplying the lethal drug with the intent to commit rape. Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, was charged in the alleged drug conspiracy.
Prosecutors said Freire brought fentanyl to the students’ dorm room on March 18, falsely telling them it was cocaine. He had previously described the substance as “straight poison,” according to the government. After encouraging the women to take it, Freire watched as both rapidly lost consciousness. The student he is accused of raping fell into a coma and died three days later, on March 21. Freire was not enrolled at FIT.
Freire and Peralta Cabrera were arrested in March and pleaded not guilty to earlier charges that did not include the sexual-assault allegation. Both remain in federal detention and have not yet been arraigned on the new indictment.
A third defendant, Harry Rosales Pino, pleaded guilty in September to conspiring to distribute narcotics that caused death and serious bodily injury. He is scheduled to be sentenced in December.
Attorneys for Freire and Peralta Cabrera did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment. A conviction could bring both men a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison and a maximum penalty of life imprisonment.
Court documents have not identified either woman.
The Fashion Institute of Technology, a State University of New York campus, was also not named in the court filings, although a defense attorney referenced the school during an earlier hearing. FIT officials did not immediately provide a comment.
During an April hearing, Freire’s attorney, Mitchell Schwartz, described the student’s death as tragic but argued that Freire had not intended to drug the women.
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Schwartz told U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein that the events before the overdoses amounted to what he called “dumb teenager things.” He referred to the student’s suggestion that Freire wear a wig and “look like a girl” so he could enter her dorm room after she invited him over.
“It’s not dumb teenager things to give somebody fentanyl, sir,” Stein responded.
At that same hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariana Bloom outlined the rape allegation included in the superseding indictment unsealed Thursday.
Bloom said Freire acknowledged in a written statement to campus security that he had sex with the student and realized afterward that she was unconscious.
According to Bloom, Freire said he then looked to his left and saw the other student lying unconscious on the floor, her eyes “rolled back in her head.”
Rather than immediately call for help, Freire allegedly waited roughly 45 minutes and sent photographs of the unconscious women to other people, prosecutors said.
When he eventually went to campus security, prosecutors said, Freire claimed the women had simply consumed too much alcohol.
Christopher Roberts, who leads the Drug Enforcement Administration’s New York Task Force Division, called the allegations “beyond disturbing,” citing what he described as a cruel deception followed by an unimaginable assault.
“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.”
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