Dealer sentenced to 19 years in prison for providing drugs to kill famous trans activist in New York

NEW YORK (AP) – A drug dealer in New York City admitted to providing fentanyl-induced heroin that killed a prominent trans activist and was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison Tuesday, prosecutors said.

Michael Kuilan, 45, of Brooklyn, was also ordered to pay $24,482 in damages and confiscate $30,000 and a confiscated gun.

“Cecilia Gentili fell into tragic poisoning from heroin contained in Fentanyl,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella, an U.S. attorney for the eastern New York region, said in a statement. “Now, the perpetrators who sold deadly drugs to Gentili are held accountable.”

Prosecutors said Kuran had three state felony convictions related to selling heroin before he pleaded guilty last year.

In a Brooklyn federal court sentencing, he faced up to 20 years in prison for drug distribution costs and up to 35 years as he used firearms as a felon in a Brooklyn federal court sentencing.

Kuilan’s attorney did not immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

His co-defendant, Antonio Venti of Long Island, was sentenced to five years in federal prison in February, and he pleaded guilty to the same drug offense last year.

Prosecutors said text messages, cell data and other evidence suggests that Kuran provided venti with drugs and then sold him to gentili.

The 52-year-old Brooklyn resident was found dead in the bedroom on February 6, 2024 (the day after the drug purchase), prosecutors said.

The former sex worker was a leading advocate for other transgender people, sex workers and HIV people.

She also participated in the FX TV series “Pose”, which tells the story of the underground banquet hall dance scenes in the 1980s and 1990s.

Gentili’s popular funeral at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan has caused anger among some in the Catholic community, including the noble church’s own pastor.