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Federal case ties Miami man to toddler’s fatal fentanyl exposure
A federal grand jury has charged 21-year-old Richie Gregoire with drug offenses connected to the death of an 18-month-old boy in Miami. The charge involving the child carries a potential life sentence if Gregoire is convicted.
A federal grand jury has indicted a 21-year-old Miami man on drug charges connected to the fentanyl death of an 18-month-old boy, adding a federal case to criminal proceedings already underway in Miami-Dade County.
Richie Gregoire faces a charge of possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute that resulted in death, as well as a separate possession-with-intent-to-distribute charge, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida said Wednesday. A conviction on the death-related charge could carry a sentence of up to life in prison; the other charge carries a maximum of 20 years.
The case began after police and Miami Fire Rescue responded about 3:50 a.m. Jan. 3 to a home near Northwest 91st Street and 22nd Avenue, where a child was found unresponsive. The boy was taken to Jackson Memorial Hospital and pronounced dead. The medical examiner found fentanyl and a trace amount of cocaine in his blood.
Investigators said the toddler accidentally ingested drugs left in an unlocked room. A Ring camera captured him ingesting the substances before he became unresponsive, authorities said. Four children, ages 1 to 8, were in the home, where investigators also found three unsecured firearms.
Gregoire was arrested May 21 after authorities searched his Miami apartment and reported finding about 69 grams of suspected fentanyl in clear capsules in several places in his bedroom. Investigators also reported finding gloves, plastic bags, drug paraphernalia and a letter addressed to Gregoire. According to an arrest report, he acknowledged knowing drugs were stored in the room but denied owning them and said he feared identifying their owner.
Gregoire had previously been charged in state court with aggravated manslaughter of a child in connection with the toddler’s death. The boy’s mother, Pearlandria Boujolly, 29, also faces an aggravated-manslaughter charge. Investigators said Boujolly was not home when the child ingested the drugs.
The federal investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ Miami Field Division and the Miami Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Yara Dodin and Juan Valiente are prosecuting the case. The charges are allegations, and Gregoire is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.