{"id":34344,"date":"2024-04-02T02:30:22","date_gmt":"2024-04-01T21:00:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/two-men-charged-with-distributing-illicit-drugs-in-death-of-transgender-activist\/"},"modified":"2024-04-02T02:30:22","modified_gmt":"2024-04-01T21:00:22","slug":"two-men-charged-with-distributing-illicit-drugs-in-death-of-transgender-activist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farratanews.online\/two-men-charged-with-distributing-illicit-drugs-in-death-of-transgender-activist\/","title":{"rendered":"Two men charged with distributing illicit drugs in death of transgender activist"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Two men were charged with distributing illicit drugs that caused the death of prominent transgender activist, author and actor Cecilia Gentili last month, the Department of Justice announced Monday.<\/p>\n

Michael Kuilan, 44, and Antonio Venti, 52, were charged with distributing a fentanyl and heroin mixture to Gentili, 52, who died from an overdose on Feb. 6, the DOJ said in a joint statement with the New York City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s indictment delivers a strong message to anyone who profits from poisoning our communities with illicit drugs: There are dedicated investigators, across multiple agencies, working tirelessly to disrupt your shameful industry by pinpointing the source of these unlawful substances,\u201d NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban said in the statement. \u201cIt is imperative that we continue to hold distributors accountable for their callous actions.\u201d<\/p>\n

Text messages, cellphone location data and other evidence revealed that Venti, a resident of West Babylon, New York, sold the fentanyl and heroin mixture to Gentili on Feb. 5, and that Kuilan, a Brooklyn resident, supplied Venti with the drugs, authorities said. Police went to Gentili\u2019s Brooklyn home on Feb. 6, following a 911 call from her partner, and found the longtime activist dead in her bedroom, authorities said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

When law enforcement searched Kuilan\u2019s Brooklyn apartment, the statement said, they found hundreds of baggies of fentanyl, a handgun and ammunition.<\/p>\n

If found guilty, Kuilan and Venti could face life in prison.<\/p>\n

\u201cDrug poisonings take too many lives too soon from communities nationwide and DEA is committed to bringing to justice those responsible,\u201d DEA Special Agent in Charge Frank Tarentino said in Monday\u2019s statement. <\/strong>\u201cFentanyl is a deadly drug that dealers mix into their product and has accounted for 70% of drug related deaths nationwide.\u00a0 The more people that know about the dangers of today\u2019s drug landscape, the more lives can be saved.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gentili served as the managing director of policy at Gay Men\u2019s Health Crisis, or GMHC \u2014 a decades-old nonprofit that aims to end the AIDS epidemic \u2014 from 2016 to 2019. In 2019, she founded Trans Equity Consulting, an organization centered on building LGBTQ diversity initiatives in the workplace.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The activist also appeared as a recurring character on FX\u2019s hit show \u201cPose,\u201d about New York City\u2019s underground LGBTQ ballroom scene, which ran from 2018 to 2021. She published an award-winning 2022 memoir, \u201cFaltas: Letters to Everyone in My Hometown Who Isn\u2019t My Rapist,\u201d which focused on her sexual trauma and gender identity.<\/p>\n

Her death in February prompted an outpouring of support from New York\u2019s LGBTQ activist community and elicited kind words of remembrance from some prominent figures, including New York Gov. Kathy Hochul<\/a>.<\/p>\n

For more from NBC Out,\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>sign up for our weekly newsletter<\/em><\/strong>.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n