| Bronx
Man Whose
Fentanyl
Killed 16 Year
Old Sex Worker
Pleds Guilty
Now Asks for 5
Years
by
Matthew Russell Lee, Patreon Book
Substack
SDNY COURTROOM
EXCLUSIVE, Feb 29 – Law
enforcement announced the
arrest in The Bronx, NY of
VIRGIL WARDLOW for paying for
sex with a minor with
fentanyl-laced pills, saying
he "will be presented today
before U.S. Magistrate Judge
Valerie
Figueredo."
Inner City Press was there.
Thread here:
Prosecutor says
defendant left fentanyl loose
in 110 East 177 Street in the
Bronx, used anonymized VOIP
TextPlus, killed a
19-year-old. Withdrew $40 from
TD Bank with CashApp to "date"
Victim-2, also paying with
(deadly) pills
Wardlow's
girlfriend Ms Casanova is here
- his Federal Defender says
she works at Nordstrom in
"asset protection." They have
a 7 year old daughter. Also
his mother, who work at the
Post Office.
Federal
Defender says Wardlow has an
entrepreneurial spirit - but
the deal for the 16 year old
was someone else's fault,
"other people went to that
hotel."
Federal
Defender asks for a photo of
the minor, says another john
may be responsible.
AUSA: The next
one paid in cash. It's strict
liability, as long as they
have contact... Federal
Defender: He could stay with
his mother in Brooklyn. Judge:
Are there any children
there?
Seems not.
Stepfather also works for post
office. Federal Defender: He
has pills because of 2 car
accidents. He wouldn't get
therapy in jail. Prosecutor:
He sells drugs and buys sex in
wherever he lives.
Federal Defender: It was just
tobacco leaves
19 year
old died: 16 year old passed
out but revived. Judge has
stepped out to
decide. Judge is
back. Orders detention, danger
to community.
Jump cut to
October 19, 2023. The case was
assigned to District Judge
Mary Kay Vyskocil, who took
Wardlaw's guilty plea to Count
1. Inner City Press was there,
the only media in the
courtroom. Wardlaw's plea deal
has a guideline of 188 to 235
months; he has agreed to pay
restitution of $17,000 for the
19 year old's funeral costs.
Sentencing is set for March
13, 2024 at 11 am.
On February 29,
Wardlow's Federal Defender
wrote in saying a 60 month
sentence is sought, that
Wardlow throught he had bought
sex with an eighteen year old,
not a sixteen year old, and
that his pills did not have
fentanyl. His father was shot
and killed in a robbery in
1998.
More
including
analysis on
Substack here
Bronx
Park Motel May
13, 2023 video
here
The case is US
v. Wardlow,
23-cr-536
(Vyskocil)
***
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