4 people with ties to Maine accused of using fentanyl to incapacitate robbery victims

Four people with Maine ties are among those indicted last week in a multi-state robbery ring that used fentanyl to incapacitate its victims.

A federal grand jury indicted Amanda Marie Correa, 29, Robert Andrew Barnes, 24, Christine Deann DiCarlo, 50, Shaqare Jaymont Blackwell, 23, Shakur Serafin Brownstein, 27, Dylan Wilson Small, 35, and Samual Jordan, 42, on charges including conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death and serious bodily injury; two counts of distributing fentanyl resulting in death and serious bodily injury; two counts of brandishing firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime; kidnapping; and aggravated identity theft, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

A spokesperson for the U.S. attorney for the District of Maine said that Jordan, DiCarlo and Small have ties to Maine, while Correa is living here.

Correa has been described as the gang’s ringleader, according to Pennsylvania CBS affiliate WYOU .

They were part of a group that authorities have dubbed the “Fentanyl Robbery Gang,” which trafficked in drugs and guns and have ties to other New York gangs, according to the Justice Department.

The group would use dating websites to connect with people who wanted to hire prostitutes, and then meet up with them at their homes, where they intended to rob them of cash, cellphones, debit and credit cards, drugs, guns, IDs and other valuables.

While there, the victims would be offered drugs said to be cocaine but actually containing fentanyl. If the victims refused the drugs, they would either be given fentanyl surreptitiously or forcibly to incapacitate them, the Justice Department alleges.

If the drugs didn’t work or not quickly enough, the gang members would rob the victims at gunpoint or use threats, beatings and assaults, according to the Justice Department.

At least four victims have died from fentanyl overdoses in Pennsylvania and New Hampshire.

The investigation is ongoing, and authorities continue to work to identify other members and associates of the Fentanyl Robbery Gang and victims.