Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 16
2 Former Navy Sailors Plead Guilty to Selling Fentanyl Pills on USS Abraham Lincoln
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · Sep 16

2 Former Navy Sailors Plead Guilty to Selling Fentanyl Pills on USS Abraham Lincoln

3 articles · Updated · The New York Times · Sep 16

Summary

  • Two former sailors pleaded guilty Monday in federal court in San Diego to selling counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl to active-duty crew members assigned to the USS Abraham Lincoln, including during deployments.
  • Bailey A. Szramowski, 29, admitted supplying 10 pills in December 2022 to a sailor identified as A.N., who died the next month of acute fentanyl intoxication while on leave in San Leandro, California.
  • Court records say police found evidence of drug use at the scene, and toxicology tests showed fentanyl and THC in A.N.’s blood, while an autopsy ruled the death an overdose.
  • Ten days after that sale, Szramowski sold three more pills to another sailor, identified as C.L.; prosecutors also said another service member was hospitalized after receiving pills from the pair.
  • Johnnese H. Poomaihealani and Szramowski, a married couple who live in Hawaii, entered the pleas as the Justice Department pursues fentanyl trafficking cases tied to U.S. military personnel.

Insights

How did a deadly fentanyl ring operate aboard a deployed US Navy aircraft carrier for a year without detection?
Will the upcoming December 2026 sentencing of these former sailors finally expose the military's hidden synthetic opioid crisis?