Paul Van Manen, Fentanyl-Laced Heroin Distribution, New York 2024

A Staten Island man is staring down life behind bars after a Manhattan jury found him guilty of peddling fentanyl-laced heroin that killed a 26-year-old father and nearly took another life. Paul Van Manen, 51, of Staten Island and South Amboy, New Jersey, was convicted yesterday of conspiracy to distribute heroin resulting in death and serious bodily injury, following an eight-day trial in Manhattan federal court.

The verdict, handed down by a unanimous jury before U.S. District Judge Paul A. Crotty, marks a grim milestone in the ongoing opioid crisis gripping New York City. According to prosecutors, Van Manen supplied heroin cut with fentanyl—the synthetic opioid up to 50 times stronger than heroin—that directly led to the fatal overdose of Michael Ogno on December 1, 2017. The death came just two months after one of Van Manen’s own associates overdosed on the same batch, a warning he ignored as he continued to flood the streets with poison.

Geoffrey S. Berman, former U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, didn’t mince words: “Paul Van Manen peddled poison to the community of Staten Island and its vicinity, causing one of his many victims to die from a tragic overdose.” Berman emphasized that despite knowing of the non-fatal overdose in October 2017, Van Manen pressed on, selling lethal doses until a young man paid with his life. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prosecute criminals seeking to profit from the current public health crisis.”

Court evidence revealed a chilling pattern. On October 4, 2017, Van Manen drove a co-conspirator—referred to as CC-1—to Brooklyn, where they obtained heroin from Medin Kosic, the conspiracy’s top supplier. The next morning, CC-1 overdosed on the tainted batch. Toxicology reports later confirmed fentanyl-laced narcotics. Yet Van Manen didn’t stop. On December 1, he sold heroin to Michael Ogno, who used the drugs and died almost immediately. Van Manen kept dealing even after Ogno’s death.

The prosecution, led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Catherine Ghosh, Ryan Finkel, Jessica Fender, and Stephanie Lake, painted Van Manen as a callous dealer who prioritized profit over human life. He now faces a mandatory minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum sentence of life. A sentencing date before Judge Crotty has not been set. Ten others have already been convicted in the sprawling drug network. Medin Kosic was sentenced to 168 months; Mirsad Bogdanovic to 160; Michael Nunez to 150; Alexander Bucci to 50. The rest await judgment.

The case was brought by the U.S. Attorney’s Narcotics Unit, with critical support from the New York Drug Enforcement Administration Strike Force, the NYPD, and the Richmond County District Attorney’s Office. As fentanyl continues to claim lives across the five boroughs, the conviction sends a hard message: dealers who push death will be hunted down and made to answer in court—one body at a time.

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