The Washington Post - USA (2022-05-27)

FRIDAY, MAY 27 , 2022. THE WASHINGTON POST EZ RE B7

obituaries

BY SALVADOR RIZZO

A Florida man who sold fenta-
nyl-laced pills on the dark web,
using digital currency and a se-
cure messaging application, was
unknowingly pushing his product
to undercover FBI agents in Vir-
ginia last fall.
Akshay Ram Kancharla, 26, of
Tampa, pleaded guilty Thursday
to one count of distributing fenta-
nyl and faces up to 20 years in

prison. Appearing in federal dis-

trict court in Alexandria,

Kancharla agreed to forfeit more

than $30,000, as well as funds

held in bitcoin and the sports car

he used to transport packages to a

UPS store.

Kancharla admitted he sold

counterfeit medications resem-

bling oxycodone and Xanax, and

laced them with fentanyl, which is

lethal in small quantities. U.S. Dis-

trict Judge Michael Nachmanoff

scheduled Kancharla’s sentencing

for Aug. 4. Kancharla’s attorney,

Christopher Amolsch, noted that

Kancharla had no previous crimi-

nal record.

From his Tampa residence,

Kancharla managed an account,

“OnlyTheFinest,” on a market-

place known as “ToRReZ” that

existed on the dark web until the

end of 2021, and another market-

place called “Dark0de Reborn,”

prosecutors said.

Packages would arrive with the

sender’s name listed as Skin Nutri-

ents & Essentials LLC, according

to the FBI. Kancharla also fulfilled

orders from an account called

“farmgod1” on the secure messag-

ing application Wickr, the FBI said

in a February court filing, adding

that his user profiles on both ser-

vices listed 337 transactions from

August 2021 to January 2022.

Prosecutors said the FBI or-

dered and received more than 700

pills in Virginia from Kancharla.

The FBI and other law enforce-

ment agencies in recent years

have warned that the dark web,

which promises users anonymity,

and other tools that fall outside

traditional investigatory tech-

niques — such as cryptocurrency

— are nonetheless traceable be-

cause federal agents are using new

tools of their own.

Using a special type of software,

authorities were able to analyze

the bitcoin address provided by

farmgod1 and traced its owner-

ship to Kancharla, according to

the FBI.

U.S. Attorney Jessica D. Aber of

the Eastern District of Virginia

said in a news conference Wednes-

day that prosecutors are cracking

down on fentanyl dealers on the

streets and online.

“Drug dealers are lacing less

potent drugs, including pills, all

across our communities with fen-

tanyl, often without the knowl-

edge of their customers, to in-

crease effects and the value of

their products,” she said.

Aber highlighted the case of

another dealer, Julian Velasquez,

36, of Lorton, who was sentenced

to 22 years in prison Tuesday for

distributing fentanyl that resulted

in the overdose death of a young

woman.

“Instead of immediately assist-

ing her, Mr. Velasquez continued

to sell drugs to two more custom-

ers and had a friend help him hide

the evidence of the victim’s death,

and drug distribution and use,

before calling 911,” Aber said.

Deaths from synthetic opioids,

including fentanyl, increased in

2021, Aber said.

“Deaths resulting from synthet-

ic opioids outpaced overdose

deaths from cocaine and psycho-

stimulants like meth combined,”

according to the Centers for Dis-

ease Control and Prevention, she

added.

VIRGINIA

Fentanyl dealer pleads

guilty after online bust

BY MATT SCHUDEL

Ray Liotta, an actor best
known for his menacing, tough-
guy roles in “Something Wild”
and the mob drama “Goodfellas”
who also had a significant sup-
porting part in the baseball fan-
tasy film “Field of Dreams,” was
found dead May 26 in the Domin-
ican Republic, where he was
making a movie. He was 67.
His publicist, Jennifer Allen,
confirmed the death but could
not provide further details.
Mr. Liotta worked on daytime
soap operas and other television
dramas before he had his break-
out role as an ex-convict in
“Something Wild” (1986), direct-
ed by Jonathan Demme. Critic
Roger Ebert called him “mesmer-
izing as the evil husband with
vengeance on his mind,” and Mr.
Liotta’s role became a template
for the kind of volatile, charis-
matic character that would de-
fine his career.
In 1989, he played the ghostly
embodiment of Shoeless Joe
Jackson in “Field of Dreams,”
depicting the real-life player who
was banned from the game for
betting on the 1919 World Series.
In the film, Shoeless Joe materi-
alizes from an Iowa cornfield,
fulfilling the vision of a farmer
(played by Kevin Costner) who
hears the prophetic words, “If
you build it, he will come.”
The centerpiece of Mr. Liotta’s
career came in 1990 with “Good-
fellas,” directed by Martin Scors-
ese and based on a nonfiction
book, “Wiseguy,” by crime jour-
nalist Nicholas Pileggi. Mr. Liotta
played Henry Hill, an Irish-Ital-
ian hoodlum in the 1950s and
1960s whose ambition was to
become a member of the New
York mob. The film, which also
starred Robert De Niro and Joe
Pesci, relied on Mr. Liotta’s narra-
tion to portray Hill’s childhood
fascination with the criminal un-
derworld and how he entered
that life.
“As far back as I can remem-
ber,” he says at the beginning of
the film, “I always wanted to be a
gangster. To me, being a gangster
was better than being president
of the United States.”
Scorsese and studio executives
were not sure Mr. Liotta, who had
only a few films to his credit, was
right for the part. He tried to
plead his case with Scorsese at
the Venice Film Festival.
“I walked over to him and I say,
‘Marty!’” Mr. Liotta later recalled.
“And the bodyguard threw me
off. And I say, ‘No, no, no. I just

want to say hi to Marty. I just

want to say hi.’ Marty said that’s

when he realized he was going to

cast me.”

Handsome in a rugged way,

with a square jaw and steely blue

eyes, Mr. Liotta could explode in

cackling laughter or maintain a

glaring, stony silence, never far

away from a sudden outburst of

violence. In a memorable scene

in “Goodfellas,” he laughs up-

roariously at a profanely vulgar

story told by another gangster,

played by Pesci, and says, “You’re

a funny guy.”

Pesci then stops and looks

straight at Mr. Liotta’s face, and

the laughter gives way to a palpa-

ble sense of danger. “Funny

how?” Pesci says. “Wait, he’s a big

boy, he knows what he said.

What’d you say? ... I’m funny

how? Like I’m funny like a clown?

I amuse you?”

The scene is resolved with

laughter, but that balance be-

tween violence and happiness, or

the appearance of happiness, is

maintained throughout Mr. Liot-

ta’s performance in “Goodfellas.”

In the end, he becomes the victim

of his vices, as a user and dealer

of cocaine, and ends up turning

against his compatriots and en-

tering the witness protection

program.

“Every crisp minute of this

long, teeming movie vibrates

with outlaw energy,” critic David

Ansen wrote in Newsweek.

Mr. Liotta seldom explained

the inner motivations that drove

his style of acting, saying only

that his characterizations de-

rived almost entirely from his

reading of the script, with some

flashes of pent-up anger thrown

in when needed.

“Even at rest, Ray seems like he

has a boiling cauldron inside and

you never know when it might

erupt,” Alessandro Nivola, who

acted with Mr. Liotta in “The

Many Saints of Newark,” a pre-

quel to “The Sopranos,” told the

Guardian.

“Of all the scary legends I’ve

worked with, De Niro, Christo-

pher Walken, Joaquin Phoenix,

Shirley MacLaine,” Nivola added,

“Ray is the one I was most

intimidated by. Not because he’s

mean, he’s not, but because he’s

so intensely committed to the art

of acting.”

Raymond Allen Liotta was

born Dec. 18, 1954, in Newark. He

was adopted at 6 months, after

being placed in an orphanage. He

grew up in Union, N.J. His father

owned a chain of auto parts

stores, and his mother worked in

local government.

He was a standout athlete in

high school and showed little

interest in acting until he en-

rolled at the University of Miami

in Coral Gables, Fla. When he

learned that drama was one of

the subjects with no science re-

quirements, “I said, ‘Oh my gosh,

I’ll be a drama major!’”

He acted in musicals and other

plays before graduating in 1978,

then moved to New York, where

he found work doing commer-

cials before landing a role in the

soap opera “Another World.” He

moved to Hollywood in the early

1980s and worked in television.

He landed his role in “Something

Wild” by calling its star, Melanie

Griffith, whose former boyfriend,

Steven Bauer, had gone to college

with Mr. Liotta.

In 1988, Mr. Liotta starred in

“Dominick and Eugene,” playing

a medical student who looks

after his developmentally dis-

abled brother, played by Tom

Hulce.

After “Goodfellas,” Mr. Liotta

played a doctor in the poorly

received “Article 99” (1992) and

seldom had top billing in his later

films. He received good reviews

for playing a corrupt police offi-

cer in “Cop Land” (1997) and as a

Mafioso in “Killing Them Softly”

(2012). He had acclaimed roles in

two cable dramas, “Shades of

Blue,” playing a crooked cop, and

“Texas Rising,” set in 19th-centu-

ry Texas. In 1998, he portrayed

Frank Sinatra in an HBO film,

noting, “I’m from Jersey, I’ve got

blue eyes, I’m close enough.”

Mr. Liotta was in his 40s when

he met his birth mother and

learned he had several other

siblings. He also learned, to his

surprise, that his ancestry was

primarily Scottish, not Italian.

His marriage to actress Michelle

Grace ended in divorce. Survi-

vors include their daughter,

Karsen, and a sister. At the time

of his death, he was engaged to be

married to Jacy Nittolo.

For many baseball fans, Mr.

Liotta’s performance in “Field of

Dreams” remains an emotional

touchstone of the game’s timeless

allure.

“Getting thrown out of base-

ball was like having part of me

amputated,” Mr. Liotta says as

Shoeless Joe Jackson. “I’ve heard

that old men wake up and scratch

itchy legs that have been dust for

over 50 years. That was me. I’d

wake up at night with the smell of

the ballpark in my nose, the cool

of the grass on my feet ... the

thrill of the grass.”

In the film, Mr. Liotta is first

seen at night, wearing the uni-

form of the 1919 White Sox while

standing on the baseball dia-

mond carved out of a corn field

by Costner’s character, Ray Kin-

sella. (Mr. Liotta said he regretted

that he hit right-handed and

threw left-handed in the film.

The real Jackson Joe batted left-

handed and threw righty.)

As the lights come on in the

ballpark, Costner introduces

himself, saying, “Ray Kinsella.”

“Joe Jackson,” Mr. Liotta re-

plies.

As he begins to turn away, he

adds, “Can I come back again?”

“Yeah,” Costner’s character

says. “I built this for you.”

RAY LIOTTA, 67

‘Goodfellas’ actor known for volatile yet charismatic roles

VALERIE MACON/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

Ray Liotta, pictured above at the Shades of Blue Television Academy Event in North Hollywood in 2016, died Thursday in the Dominican

Republic, where he was shooting a new film. He was known for his role in “Goodfellas” and his part in the baseball film “Field of Dreams.”

BY DARCY COSTELLO

After the union representing
Baltimore County police officers
voted Monday to say it had lost all
confidence in Chief Melissa Hyatt
and to ask she be “immediately”
removed, County Executive John-
ny Olszewski Jr. made clear he has
no plans to do so.
“I absolutely don’t think there’s
a need for change in leadership,”
Olszewski said Tuesday, adding
that he remains “fully supportive”
of Hyatt.
The no-confidence vote by the
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 4,
in a meeting closed to the media,
was a rare step in county history
and a striking statement of dis-
pleasure in the police depart-
ment’s top leadership by its rank-
and-file members.
In a letter to Olszewski released
following the vote, FOP President
Dave Folderauer laid out a series
of reasons provided by members
at Monday’s meeting, ranging
from a refusal to take questions to

her efforts to combat crime in the

county. Together, Folderauer

wrote, it led to the members los-

ing “all faith and confidence” in

Hyatt.

The chief could be removed by

the county executive, under the

Baltimore County charter, which

grants the executive the power to

remove agency leaders in the ex-

ecutive branch. The county coun-

cil doesn’t have that authority.

Hyatt’s current employment con-

tract expires in early December.

Hyatt, 46, became the depart-

ment’s first female chief in 2019,

leading an agency with nearly

2,000 sworn employees.

She said in a statement after

the FOP’s vote that she “will not

be deterred or distracted” and

remains committed to leading the

department.

Hyatt added that she had a

productive working relationship

with the prior union leaders, but

“a small group of my critics from

within the current police union

leadership” encouraged members

to request her removal from of-

fice.

Olszewski suggested Hyatt’s ef-

forts to spur change at the police

agency might have led to dissatis-

faction among the officers.

“We hired her intentionally to

bring some changes to the depart-

ment, and obviously, anytime

there are some changes in a large

organization, there will be some

individuals who aren’t on board,”

said Olszewski, pointing specifi-

cally to the agency’s recent em-

phasis on diversity, data-driven

policing and community relation-

ships. “These were not necessari-

ly priorities in the years past, but

they have been here.”

The FOP’s letter outlining rea-

sons for the vote of no confidence

claimed Hyatt had not made her-

self accessible to the union’s

members, had displayed an un-

willingness to work directly with

FOP leadership on “underlying

issues” and had hired leaders

from outside the county, which

the letter argues led to a “lack of

experience and knowledge con-

cerning the history of the agency.”

The letter added that Hyatt had

“failed to adequately address the

rise in crime in Baltimore Coun-

ty.” And it cited at least five sexual

harassment or hostile work envi-

ronment cases “involving mem-

bers of the Executive Corps.”

Those cases have not been made

public.

It also lists two specific deci-

sions the FOP previously objected

to: One is a vote Hyatt made in her

role on the Maryland Police Train-

ing and Standards Commission

regarding a disciplinary process

that the FOP argues would have

“eliminated due process trial

boards” for Maryland law en-

forcement.

The other is the reading of Sgt.

Tia Bynum’s name at a recent

memorial service for fallen police.

The FOP called Bynum a “dis-

graced member of our depart-

ment” and called her inclusion a

“final blow to the morale” of the

department.

Bynum was accused of being an

accomplice to ex-Baltimore Coun-

ty officer Robert Vicosa in the

kidnapping of his two daughters

that led law enforcement on a

four-day search in November.

She, Vicosa and his two daughters

were found dead last year in what

officials have described as a mur-

der-suicide by Vicosa.

Folderauer, the union presi-

dent, said the no-confidence vote

was a voice vote, meaning there’s

no official tally. But he said it was

unanimous and estimated there

were well over 100 members pre-

sent.

In Hyatt’s response, she high-

lighted her focus on crime reduc-

tion, meaningful community rela-

tionships, accountability, em-

ployee wellness, and offering the

best training and equipment to

officers.

Hyatt said members of the de-

partment can offer feedback and

communicate through focus

groups, listening sessions and

open forums. She also said she’d

created a police union liaison and

email account for officers to reach

her.

Olszewski nominated Hyatt for

the position of chief in May 2019

following a national search. He

praised her at the time as commu-

nity-oriented and innovative, and

said he hoped the department

would embrace community polic-

ing, strengthen diversity and im-

prove transparency under her

leadership.

In recent years, the agency has

faced scrutiny for the racial dis-

parities in its traffic stops and

several high-profile police kill-

ings. It also saw a record number

of homicides in 2021, a pace that

has slowed in 2022.

— Baltimore Sun

MARYLAND

Baltimore police union loses ‘all faith and confidence’ in chief, seeks ouster

First female leader vows

to continue, gets backing

from county executive

“Ray is the one I was

most intimidated by.

Not because he’s mean,

he’s not, but because

he’s so intensely

committed to the

art of acting.”

Alessandro Nivola,

actor who worked with Ray Liotta in

“The Many Saints of Newark”