USS Abraham Lincoln Sailor Faces Federal Charges for Fentanyl Distribution After Shipmate’s Death

Court papers say that a U.S. Navy sailor is being charged in federal court with passing out pills that were mixed with fentanyl and caused another sailor to overdose and die on the USS Abraham Lincoln in 2023. Bailey Szramowski is accused of selling sailors fake Percocet pills that contained fentanyl, which led to at least two deaths. The soldier who died was named "A.N." He died on January 3, 2023, while on leave in San Leandro, California.

A toxicology report revealed that A.N. died from being too high on fentanyl. Ten days later, a different soldier from the Lincoln, named "C.L.," survived an overdose and helped an investigation by the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS). C.L. said that Szramowski had been giving out the pills on the carrier while it was in action in 2022 and after it got back to San Diego, California.

The lawsuit says that Szramowski got the pills by sending them through the mail to a P.O. box in Coronado, California, and then used CashApp to sell them to sailors. He is also said to have tried to hide his role by asking A.N.'s family to delete text messages they had sent to each other after the sailor died. The family said no.

The case shows how serious the problem of drug abuse is in the service. Szramowski is now being accused of selling fentanyl with the intent to kill, which is a federal crime with harsh punishments.

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