(The Center Square) – Federal prosecutors charged two men in their 70s Tuesday with selling fentanyl-laced heroin nicknamed “gray death” from wheelchairs in a Veterans Administration facility in Chicago.
Prosecutors charged Chicago residents Richard A. Husband, 73, and Wayne Townsend, 71, with possession of fentanyl-laced heroin with intent to distribute.
Documents filed in U.S. District Court accuse Husband and Townsend of dealing and possessing fentanyl-laced heroin at the Jesse Brown Veterans Administration Medical Center in Chicago.
Prosecutors outline parts of the case against Husband in a 14-page criminal complaint that includes photos of Husband using a motorized wheelchair to distribute the gray fentanyl-laced heroin in plastic bags. It was nicknamed “gray death” because of the strength of the product and the number of overdoses that had occurred among users, according to the complaint.
Prosecutors said Townsend, who was addicted to heroin, began selling the drug in 2021. He allegedly sold the drugs to about 10 customers at the VA Medical Center who were veterans, according to a separate criminal complaint.
If convicted, both men face up to 20 years in prison.
