Louisville man charged after counterfeit painkiller leads to overdose death

Charges have been made in connection with the death of Derrick James Elder, a Louisville man who medical examiners said overdosed on fentanyl in October 2018.

Amir Karat was arrested and charged with possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance after a federal investigation on Elder’s death found that Elder was getting percocet believed to have been manufactured with fentanyl or a fentanyl analog from Karat on the day he died.

Elder, 31, had been married for around three months at the time of his death. He and his wife had one child and his wife is currently pregnant with their second child. Elder played college football at Western Kentucky, where multiple past surgeries led him to an addiction to painkillers.

The criminal complaint filed by a DEA Task Force Officer said Elder’s wife told investigators he had admitted to becoming addicted to opiates following his surgeries, and used painkillers to self-manage his pain.

During their investigation, police found text messages between Karat and Elder referring to Elder’s illegal purchase of percocet from Karat, believed to be a bartender at the popular Louisville restaurant Le Moo.

Elder’s wife said she knew Karat as one of Elder’s closest friends and found it suspicious that he was not at his funeral or visitation. At a Le Moo fundraiser in honor of Elder, a separate relative said Karat acted suspiciously, saying he knew Elder had a problem with pills but had nothing to do with Elder’s death.

When investigators interviewed Karat, he said he and Elder were close while working together at Le Moo, and he knew Elder had an issue with substance abuse. 

 “Derrick has asked me for some pills, sometimes,” Karat told investigators, but he said he “never tried to help him with it because…I tried one time, because he kept nagging me about it, but it never happened.”

When asked about his possible supplier, Karat said he no longer had anything to do with the man and was completely unaware of any criminal involvement.

After the investigation, Karat contacted Elder’s wife, saying he was freaked out by the questions and asked if there was a criminal investigation.

A preliminary hearing in federal court is scheduled for Wednesday, January 2 at 2:30 p.m.