2 charged with fentanyl distribution after FIT student's death

Two young men were arraigned for fentanyl distribution conspiracy after a student at the Fashion Institute of Technology was fatally poisoned and another nearly died. 

The charge against Moises Friere, 19, and Brian Peralta Cabrera, 18, carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 20 years in prison.

Both men pleaded not guilty.

Federal investigators say the deadly incident happened in March inside a dormitory on the campus in Manhattan.

Prosecutors said Friere supplied fentanyl disguised as cocaine to two female students at the college. Cabrera is accused of supplying Friere the drugs.   

Friere had allegedly taken the same drugs a week earlier and called it "poison," saying it was not cocaine. Despite that, he still brought the drugs to the women's dorm and told them it was "pure coke," authorities said.

According to the federal indictment, both women lost consciousness almost immediately after taking the drug. Friere is accused of sexually assaulting one of the women before waiting 45 minutes to seek help. 

He originally told campus security the two women consumed too much alcohol. 

The students were taken to hospitals, and toxicology testing later confirmed the women ingested fentanyl, prosecutors said.

One student survived, but the other later died from complications of acute fentanyl intoxication, according to investigators.