Daniel J. Fillerup, Fentanyl Sale, New York 2016

Daniel J. Fillerup, 33, of Albany, is headed to federal prison for a decade after admitting he sold fentanyl that killed a woman in Schenectady. The fatal transaction, sealed in text messages and a brief street meet-up, ended with Kate Centofanti dead from fentanyl intoxication—another grim tally in the nation’s opioid epidemic.

Fillerup was sentenced today to 120 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn, who also slapped on a 3-year term of supervised release. The sentence, handed down after a December 20, 2018 guilty plea, marks the federal government’s hard line against dealers whose poison leads directly to overdose deaths.

According to court records, on September 29, 2016, Fillerup coordinated with Centofanti through phone calls and text messages to sell her two bags of heroin. The pair met in Schenectady, where she handed over $36. Fillerup then obtained what he believed to be heroin—later confirmed as fentanyl—and passed two bags to her. She used the substance and died shortly after.

The case was built by the FBI’s Capital District Safe Streets Gang Task Force, a multi-agency unit targeting violent and drug-related crime across the region. Investigators combed through digital evidence and forensic reports to tie Fillerup directly to the lethal supply chain. The Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office also contributed investigative resources.

U.S. Attorney Grant C. Jaquith and FBI Special Agent in Charge James N. Hendricks issued a joint statement emphasizing accountability: “Selling drugs laced with fentanyl isn’t just trafficking—it’s playing Russian roulette with lives.” They credited the task force’s persistence for delivering justice in Centofanti’s case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas Collyer prosecuted the case, which underscores a broader push by federal prosecutors to charge drug dealers with manslaughter or death resulting when their products kill users. Fillerup’s conviction adds to a growing list of New York defendants sentenced under harsher interpretations of the law—sending a message: sell fentanyl, do the time.

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