Five people are arrested after Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro died of drug overdose
Five people have been arrested following the death of Robert De Niro’s grandson, who overdosed on recreational drugs two years ago.
Grant McIver, Bruce Epperson, Eddie Barreto, John Nicolas and Roy Nicolas are accused of supplying the pills that led to the teenager’s death in July 2023.
Leandro, the grandson of the legendary player, died in New York on July 2, 2023, at the age of 18. A white powdery substance was found in a plate near his body.
The teenager’s lifeless body was found sitting on a chair in a $950,000 one-bedroom apartment in Manhattan’s Cipriani Club Residences on Wall Street.
The five suspects are accused of running a criminal network that supplied thousands of counterfeit prescription pills to teenagers and young adults in the Big Apple, according to an indictment seen by the Daily Mail.
Sources told New York Post He said Leandro was one of the three youths accused of supplying the deadly drugs.
Leandro De Niro Rodriguez was the son of De Niro’s adopted daughter, 51-year-old Drena, and artist Carlos Rodriguez.
De Niro wrote at the time: ‘I am deeply saddened by the passing of my beloved grandson Leo.
‘We greatly appreciate everyone’s condolences.’
Leandro, the grandson of the legendary actor, died in New York at the age of 18. A white powdery substance was found in a plate near his body. They were photographed together in happier times
Robert De Niro’s grandson Leandro dies at 18 (pictured with his mother Drena and grandfather)
Apart from today’s five arrests, 20-year-old Sophia Haley Marks, the alleged dealer known as the ‘Percocet Princess’, was also charged with selling the drug to De Niro Rodriguez.
Three of the five alleged drug dealers arrested today were known around the Big Apple by the aliases ‘Dizzy’, ‘Tea’ and ‘John John’.
De Niro’s teenage grandson lived alone in the luxury sixth-floor apartment where he died. He had been renting the unit for less than a year. The apartment is located in the same stone building as Cipriani, a luxury venue for events.
The building’s doorman told the Daily Mail at the time that Leandro was a friendly young man and would always say hello when he came and went.
“I saw him from time to time and he always said hello,” the doorman said. ‘He was just friendly, keeping to himself.’
‘I didn’t know who he was until I read the story,’ he said. ‘This is a tragedy. I was just talking to my coworker and she said my daughter just turned 20. You see his (Leandro’s) picture, he was a baby.’
This is breaking news.
