Two more individuals have been indicted in connection with a mass fentanyl overdose that took place at a Waikiki hotel on June 4, resulting in the death of two individuals, including one Big Island resident.
A federal grand jury on Thursday in Honolulu indicted Jeffrey Waz and Joseph Hamil in connection with the drugs that killed 53-year-old Steven Berengue of Kailua-Kona and 44-year-old Joseph Iseke of Oahu.
Berengue was a well-known veteran canoe paddler and paddling coach, and his death has resulted in the Hawaii Island Fentanyl Task Force holding talks with several youth paddling teams about the dangers of fentanyl.
Previously, Avery Garrard and Keina Drageset, a Honolulu couple, were arrested on June 23 and charged in the case. The new indictment adds additional drug charges to both.
The indictment alleges that the fentanyl leading to the mass overdose was acquired by Drageset, who then supplied it to Garrard.
Garrard then distributed 1 ounce of fentanyl to Waz, who then allegedly distributed it to Hamil.
According to the indictment, on June 3, Hamil intended to distribute “a ball” of meth — an “8-ball” is shorthand for an eighth of an ounce, about 3.5 grams — to one of the victims. The document states, however, that Hamil, by mistake, also distributed to the victim the 1 gram of fentanyl that he had received from Waz, as well as a gram of black-tar heroin.
According to the indictment, the five individuals at the Outrigger Reef Waikiki Beach Resort then snorted the fentanyl, which they believed to be cocaine or MDMA (“ecstasy”).
The indictment also confirmed that the three other patients who were victims in the overdose have all been released from the hospital. One of them was reportedly Berengue’s wife, Siulin.
Upon conviction, the indictment stated the U.S. will seek forfeiture of any property constituting or derived from the various counts, which includes the $150,219 in cash seized from Drageset’s residence in Honolulu.
Drageset, Garrard and Waz all pleaded not guilty to all charges Monday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield.
Mansfield ordered all three defendants to appear in court for a jury trial Sept. 11 before U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi.
Hamil is scheduled for arraignment and plea Wednesday before Mansfield.
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com and John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
