A 57-year-old man who
allegedly sold fentanyl to
a pair of Hawaii men who died from an overdose entered a plea of not guilty Wednesday and will be on supervised released before trial.
Joseph Alvin Hamil, 57, one of four people charged by federal prosecutors in the deaths of two men and serious injury of three others, is allegedly the street-side dealer of the operation.
Hamil is accused of giving the victims fentanyl by accident and is charged with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury. He made his initial appearance and entered a not guilty plea Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth J. Mansfield.
Hamil will be on supervised release after posting a $50,000 unsecured bond until his trial with the three other defendants on Sept. 11 at 9 a.m. before U.S. District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi.
“Mr. Hamil looks forward to addressing the charge against him,” his attorney, Matthew D. Mannisto, told The Honolulu Star-Advertiser.
Hamil cannot drink, take illegal drugs, must submit to psychiatric/mental health evaluation, and his travel is restricted to Oahu before trial.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marshall H. Silverberg, who is prosecuting the case, declined comment.
Both Hamil and Jeffrey P. Waz, 63, are reportedly cooperating with the investigation being run by Honolulu police, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration and the Federal Bureau of
Investigation.
Keina Breit Drageset, 26, the accused ringleader, and her boyfriend Avery James Garrard, 31, are accused of smuggling drugs into the state through the mail and providing them to Waz, who allegedly gave them to Hamil to sell.
Hamil is accused of
providing the fentanyl to 53-year-old Steven Berengue and 44-year-old Joseph
Iseke, who both died after overdosing at a hotel party June 3. Iseke, of Kailua, was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency personnel responded to a call
at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort.
Berengue, of Kailua-Kona, was taken to a hospital, where he died within
24 hours of being found
unresponsive.
On June 3, Hamil planned to sell “a ball” of meth, or
3.5 grams, to Iseke but mistakenly gave him one gram of fentanyl that he allegedly got from Waz, and one gram of heroin, according to federal court documents.
Waz, Garrard and Drageset are accused of a controlled-substance conspiracy resulting in death and serious bodily injury, according to an eight-count indictment handed down July 6 by a federal grand jury.
Additionally, Waz and
Garrard are charged with distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury.
Waz and Drageset are also accused of possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.
Drageset, a former model, was also charged with attempted possession with
intent to distribute a controlled substance for allegedly trying to get fentanyl through the U.S. Postal Service on June 23, and with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance after authorities allegedly found fentanyl during a search of her white Tesla after she and Garrard were arrested that day.
