Bridgeport Fentanyl Dealer Involved in Overdose Death Sentenced to Federal Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DANIEL OLIVER, also known as “Chase,” 30, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Harford to 20 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the early morning hours of April 23, 2020, a 23-year-old woman was discovered unconscious in her bedroom of her Bronx, New York residence.  Law enforcement and medical personnel responded to the scene and she was pronounced dead.  Fentanyl and drug paraphernalia were recovered from the scene, and the victim’s autopsy found that she died of “acute fentanyl intoxication.”  The investigation revealed that Oliver sold the victim fentanyl shortly before her overdose death; that he knew she had not used opioids for some time before the sale; that he warned her that the drugs could be more dangerous based on her period of sobriety; and that he deleted his Facebook account, which he used to communicate with the victim, shortly after the victim died.

In January 2021, Bridgeport Police made a controlled purchase of fentanyl and heroin from Oliver.  On January 18, 2021, Oliver was arrested on state charges, and a court-authorized search of his residence revealed 140 folds containing a mixture of fentanyl and heroin, and a quantity of cocaine.

Oliver was arrested on a federal criminal complaint on September 1, 2022.  On December 4, 2023, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, a controlled substance.  After a hearing on April 19, 2024, Judge Williams found that Oliver sold the fentanyl to the overdose victim that resulted in her death.

Oliver has been detained since his federal arrest.

This matter was investigated by the New York City Police Department, the Bridgeport Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, which includes personnel from the DEA Bridgeport Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bridgeport, Norwalk, Stamford, Stratford, Milford, and Danbury Police Departments.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Ruff.