Federal Prosecutors Say FIT Student Was Drugged, Raped, and Killed with Fentanyl in Dorm

POLICY WIRE — New York, United States — Federal prosecutors revealed Thursday that a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology was incapacitated with fentanyl, sexually assaulted, and ultimately killed in her campus residence.

Authorities stated that 19-year-old Moises Freire of the Bronx brought the lethal substance to the victims’ dorm room on March 18. Freire allegedly passed off the drug as pure cocaine, despite having previously referred to it as straight poison, prompting the two women to consume it.

Both students lost consciousness nearly right away, according to court documents, and the student targeted in the assault slipped into a coma before passing away on March 21. Her friend also ingested the substance and narrowly survived the overdose ordeal.

Freire, who was not enrolled at the college, faces charges including participation in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy and distributing a deadly drug with intent to commit rape. An 18-year-old resident of Queens, Brian Peralta Cabrera, was additionally charged in connection to the narcotics conspiracy.

Both men were initially arrested in March and entered not guilty pleas to earlier charges that lacked the rape allegations. They continue to be held in federal custody pending their arraignment on the newly unsealed indictment.

A third individual involved in the case, Harry Rosales Pino, entered a guilty plea in September to conspiring to distribute narcotics that resulted in death and serious bodily injury. His sentencing is scheduled for December.

Legal representation for both Freire and Peralta Cabrera did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. If found guilty, the defendants face a statutory mandatory minimum of 20 years behind bars alongside a potential life sentence.

Neither the victims nor the university were formally named in the official court paperwork, though defense counsel referenced the institution during a previous court proceeding. Representatives for the school have not issued immediate statements.

During an April court appearance, defense attorney Mitchell Schwartz described the fatality as a tragic incident while arguing that his client did not intend to poison the students. Schwartz characterized the events leading up to the overdoses, which involved the female student asking Freire to wear a wig and look like a girl to sneak past security, as typical foolish teenager behavior.

It’s not dumb teenager things to give somebody fentanyl, sir, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein responded.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariana Bloom outlined the harrowing details of the sexual assault allegations during the same hearing. Bloom informed the judge that Freire admitted in a signed statement to campus security that he engaged in sexual activity with the victim and subsequently realized she was unresponsive.

Freire reportedly looked toward his left and noticed the second student unconscious on the floor with her eyes rolled back in her head. Rather than seeking immediate medical assistance, prosecutors indicated he waited roughly 45 minutes while transmitting photographs of the incapacitated women to other individuals.

When Freire finally alerted campus security officers, he falsely claimed the students had simply consumed an excessive amount of alcohol. Christopher Roberts, head of the Drug Enforcement Administration New York Task Force Division, condemned the alleged actions as a cruel deception and 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 remarked. Every student deserves to feel safe, whether walking across campus, sitting in a classroom, or inside their own dorm room.

Reporting by Policy-Wire (PW)