Earlier today in Brooklyn, a federal court sentenced Michael Kuilan to 19 years in prison for selling fentanyl and heroin that resulted in the overdose death of LGBTQ activist Cecilia Gentili. United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan also ordered Kuilan to pay $24,482 in restitution and forfeit $30,000 along with a seized firearm. Additionally, Kuilan received a concurrent 15-year sentence for unlawful firearm possession as a felon. Kuilan has three prior state felony convictions related to heroin sales and pleaded guilty to federal charges on September 23, 2024.
The sentencing was announced by Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Frank A. Tarentino, III, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA); and Jessica Tisch, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (NYPD).
“Cecilia Gentili was tragically poisoned from fentanyl-laced heroin. Today, the perpetrators who sold the deadly drugs to Gentili are being held accountable,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “This Office will be relentless in prosecuting fentanyl dealers.”
Court documents revealed that on February 6, 2024, Gentili was found deceased in her Brooklyn bedroom due to an overdose involving fentanyl, xylazine, cocaine, and heroin. Evidence indicated co-defendant Antonio Venti sold the drug mixture to Gentili on February 5, 2024; Kuilan supplied these narcotics to Venti. A search of Kuilan’s Williamsburg apartment uncovered hundreds of baggies of fentanyl along with a handgun and ammunition.
On February 12, 2025, Judge Cogan sentenced Venti to five years’ imprisonment for his role in the drug offense.
The prosecution is managed by the Office’s International Narcotics and Money Laundering Section under Assistant United States Attorney Adam Amir with support from Paralegal Specialist Samuel Ronchetti.
