Coventry Man Sentenced For Fatal Fentanyl Sale

COVENTRY, RI — A Coventry man was sentenced for his role in a fentanyl scheme that led to the death of a buyer. David Grimaldi, 24, of Coventry pleaded guilty in October to distribution of fentanyl.

Grimaldi admitted to working with Robert Bell, 24, of Warwick, in finding a buyer for fentanyl pills, who later died. Bell also previously pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting the distribution of fentanyl. Both admitted that their actions led to the buyer's death.

"Defendants actions in this case ended in the gravest possible result: a young man’s life tragically cut short," U.S. Attorney Aaron Weisman said. "And, as the court’s sentence reflected, that grave result carries with it severe consequences. For a single drug transaction in a West Warwick parking lot involving three tiny, fentanyl-laced pills, one defendant with no prior history with the law will spend two and a half years behind bars, as will his co-defendant. The severity of this conduct, reflected by the sentences meted out in this case, reaffirms our commitment to prosecute those who profit from or share deadly illegal substances with others, and to seek the greatest measure of justice for the victims of their actions."

According to court documents, Bell found the buyer, set a price and set up a time and place for the meetup, a parking lot in West Warwick. There, he gave the buyer three pills, marked and colored to look like oxycodone. The pills were, in fact, laced with fentanyl. Grimaldi admitted to watching the man swallow half a pill, Weisman's office said, minutes before he collapsed. The man was pronounced dead at Kent Hospital later that day, with fentanyl in his blood.

Bell was sentenced to 32 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Grimaldi, meanwhile, was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison, with three years of supervised release.