CT man sentenced to prison for dealing fentanyl linked to fatal overdose

A Bridgeport man has been sentenced to federal prison for selling fentanyl that was linked to a New York woman’s death.

Daniel “Chase” Oliver, 30, appeared in court in Hartford on Friday and was sentenced by Judge Omar A. Williams to 20 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut. 

According to court records, a 23-year-old woman was found unconscious in her bedroom in the Bronx, New York, on April 23, 2020, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Fentanyl and drug paraphernalia were found at the scene and an autopsy found that she died of  “acute fentanyl intoxication,” records show.

Judge Williams ruled during a hearing last month that “Oliver sold the fentanyl to the overdose victim that resulted in her death,” the statement said.

Investigators also found that Oliver knew before the sale that the woman had not used opioids for a while and warned her that the “drugs could be more dangerous based on her period of sobriety,” according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

In January 2021, police in Bridgeport made a controlled purchase of fentanyl and heroin from Oliver. He was arrested on January 18, 2021, and a subsequent search of his home reportedly turned up 140 folds with a mixture of fentanyl and heroin, along with cocaine, records show.

Oliver was arrested on federal charges in September 2022. The case was investigated by the Bridgeport Police Department, the New York City Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration’s Bridgeport High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.

Oliver pleaded guilty on Dec. 4, 2023, to possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, a controlled substance.