FIT student dead after being drugged, raped in her NYC dorm: prosecutor
asserted
student → drug → dorm
A man raped a student at New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology after giving her fentanyl that left her unconscious and ultimately killed her, federal prosecutors said Thursday.
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prosecutors → rap → her
The student’s friend also took the drug and nearly died.
asserted
friend → take → drug
Moises Freire, 19, of the Bronx, was charged with participating in a fentanyl distribution conspiracy and distributing a deadly drug with intent to commit rape.
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Freire → charge → rape
Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, of Queens, was also charged in the drug conspiracy.
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Cabrera → charge → conspiracy
According to prosecutors, Freire brought fentanyl to the students’ dorm room on March 18 and falsely claimed that the substance, which he’d previously described as “straight poison,” was pure cocaine.
uncertain
he → accord → poison
At his urging, the women took the drug and almost immediately lost consciousness, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → take → consciousness
The woman he is accused of raping lapsed into a coma and died March 21.
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he → accuse → coma
Freire and Peralta Cabrera were first arrested in March and pleaded not guilty to an initial set of charges that did not include the rape allegation.
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that → arrest → allegation
They remain in federal custody and have yet to be arraigned on the new indictment.
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They → remain → indictment
A third defendant, Harry Rosales Pino, pleaded guilty in September to a charge of conspiracy to distribute narcotics resulting in death and serious bodily injury.
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defendant → plead → death
He is set to be sentenced in December.
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He → set → December
Emails seeking comment were left for lawyers for Freire and Peralta Cabrera.
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Emails → seek → Freire
If convicted, they face a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a possible life sentence.
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they → convict → prison
Neither of the women were identified in court papers.
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Neither → identify → papers
The Fashion Institute of Technology, part of the State University of New York, was not identified, either, but a defense lawyer mentioned it during a prior hearing.
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lawyer → identify → hearing
School officials didn’t immediately comment.
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officials → comment → ?
At a court hearing in April, Freire’s lawyer, Mitchell Schwartz, called the woman’s death a tragedy but said Freire was not trying to ply the students with drugs.
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Freire → call → drugs
If anything, he told Judge Sidney Stein, what preceded the overdoses — including the woman’s suggestion that Freire wear a wig and “look like a girl” so he could sneak up to her dorm room after she had invited him over — was “a story of teenagers doing what I would call ‘dumb teenager things.’
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I → tell → what
“It’s not dumb teenager things to give somebody fentanyl, sir,” Stein replied.
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Stein → ’ → fentanyl
At the same hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Ariana Bloom detailed the rape allegations at the heart of the superseding indictment unsealed Thursday.
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Bloom → detail → indictment
Bloom told the judge that Freire admitted in a written statement to campus security that he had sex with the woman and realized she was unconscious after.
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she → tell → woman
Freire said he then looked to his left and saw her friend unconscious on the floor “with her eyes rolled back in her head,” according to Bloom.
uncertain
eyes → say → Bloom
Freire did not immediately seek help, instead waiting about 45 minutes while he sent photos of the unconscious women to others, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → seek → others
When he finally went to campus security, he claimed that the women simply drank too much, prosecutors said.
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prosecutors → go → much
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Report → start → news
Christopher Roberts, the head of the Drug Enforcement Administration New York Task Force Division, said the allegations were “beyond disturbing and include a cruel deception and unimaginable assault.”
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allegations → say → deception
“College should be a place where young people can learn, grow, and pursue their dreams, not a place where predators exploit their vulnerability,” Roberts said.
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Roberts → learn → vulnerability
“Every student deserves to feel safe, whether walking across campus, sitting in a classroom, or inside their own dorm room.”
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student → deserve → room
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