New York (CNN) -- Four people believed to be connected to the drugs found in Philip Seymour Hoffman's apartment were arrested late Tuesday night, law enforcement officials told CNN.
During the raid that led
to the arrest of the three men and one woman, police recovered 350 small
plastic bags of what is believed to be heroin, the officials said. The
bags of alleged heroin were branded "black list" and "red bull" -- not
the same brands found in Hoffman's apartment, the sources said.
The source identified the
suspects being investigated in connection with drugs sold to Hoffman as
Juliana Luchkiw, 22; Max Rosenblum, 22; Robert Vineberg, 57; and Thomas
Cushman, 48.
Luchkiw and Rosenblum
were charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance in the
seventh degree, misdemeanors, while Vineberg was charged with criminal
possession of a controlled substance in the third degree, a felony.
Through their attorneys, all three entered pleas of not guilty Wednesday.
The Manhattan District
Attorney's Office declined to prosecute Cushman because there was no
evidence he had any control over the drugs.
Vineberg was found to
have the actor's phone number stored in his cell phone, a law
enforcement official told CNN. Police discovered the largest amount of
what is believed to be heroin in his apartment, the source said.
Vineberg was described by
a former neighbor as a talented musician who used the stage name Robert
Aaron and once toured with Wyclef Jean. Vineberg had a wife and
daughter, said the neighbor, who lived in the building a number of years
ago.
"He used to practice at
night," said the former neighbor, recounting that Vineberg played
keyboards. "Honestly, he seemed like a nice guy, always playing music.
Nothing sinister."
Vineberg's attorney, Edward Kratt, said that he hopes prosecutors will not use his client as a scapegoat.
"These charges have absolutely nothing to do with Philip Seymour Hoffman's unfortunate death," Kratt said.
Luchkiw's attorney,
Stephan Turano, similarly said she had no connection to Hoffman, other
than seeing his movies, and that Luchkiw was simply in the "wrong place
at (the) wrong time."
A spokeswoman for the
New York medical examiner's office said Wednesday that a determination
of the cause and manner of Hoffman's death is pending further study,
including toxicology reports.
When police were called
to Hoffman's fourth-floor Manhattan apartment Sunday, they found the
actor lying on the bathroom floor with a syringe in his left arm. He was
wearing shorts and a T-shirt, his eyeglasses still resting on his head,
according to law enforcement sources familiar with the inquiry.
Investigators discovered
close to 50 envelopes of what they believed was heroin in the
apartment, the law enforcement sources said. They also found used
syringes, prescription drugs and empty plastic bags of a type commonly
used to hold drugs, the sources said.
Also found in Hoffman's apartment was his personal journal, resting on a living room TV stand, two law enforcement sources said.
No fentanyl found
Preliminary tests
Tuesday showed the heroin recovered from Hoffman's apartment did not
contain fentanyl, a law enforcement official told CNN. More testing will
be done.
Fentanyl is a powerful narcotic used to treat cancer patients' pain.
Last week, Maryland
officials said heroin tainted with fentanyl had claimed at least 37
lives since September. And last month, at least 22 people in western
Pennsylvania died after using heroin mixed with fentanyl.
While results of an
autopsy will definitively reveal exactly how Hoffman, 46, died, the role
that heroin may or may not have played is a key part of the
investigation.
Final hours
Police are trying to
piece together the actor's movements last weekend as they look for
anyone who might be linked to the drugs that apparently killed him.
On Tuesday, a law
enforcement source told CNN that the night before Hoffman died, he
withdrew $1,200 from a grocery store ATM near his apartment.
Hoffman got the money in six transactions Saturday night, according to the source.
A witness told investigators he saw the Oscar-winning actor talking to two men wearing messenger bags about 8 p.m.
Police are also
reviewing surveillance video, including video of a restaurant where
Hoffman had brunch Saturday morning with two people.
'I'm a heroin addict'
In a 2011 interview with "60 Minutes," Hoffman discussed his past struggles with drug and alcohol addiction.
"Anything I could get my hands on, I liked it all," he said.
Fear, Hoffman said, made him sober up.
"You get panicked. ... I
was 22 and I got panicked for my life. It really was, it was just
that," he said. "And I always think, 'God, I have so much empathy for
these young actors that are 19 and all of a sudden are beautiful and
famous and rich.' I'm like, 'Oh my God. I'd be dead.'"
But last year, Hoffman
said he'd fallen off the wagon, started taking prescription pills and
slipped into snorting heroin, according to TMZ.
Magazine writer John Arundel said he met the actor at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah two weeks before his death.
"I said, 'What do you do?' And at that point, he took off his hat and he said, 'I'm a heroin addict,'" Arundel said.
"Didn't look like he was
(joking). Seemed like he was having one of those 'coming to God'
moments -- where it just struck him as, 'this is the revelatory
moment.'"
But actor George Clooney said he had dinner with Hoffman a few months ago, and he seemed fine.
"I have to say he seemed in pretty good shape," Clooney said. "I mean, there's no way to explain it."
Filmmaker Chris Barrett interviewed Hoffman January
17 at the Sundance Film Festival. "He didn't look well at Sundance. His
skin color was very pale, but he wasn't disheveled as some media was
reporting," Barrett told CNN.
Dimming the lights
Family and close friends
of the actor will hold a private funeral service in New York. Plans are
also under way for a memorial service later this month. No information
on the dates was available.
On Wednesday night, the famed Broadway theater district will dim its marquees for one minute at 7:45 p.m. in Hoffman's memory.
He appeared on Broadway three times.
Hoffman stayed active on
stage even as his star rose in Hollywood. He starred in a Broadway
production of "Death of a Salesman" in 2012 and was co-artistic director
of the Labyrinth Theater Company in New York.
That company hosted a candlelight vigil Wednesday night.
"I just was really
profoundly affected by his death and felt like it was important for me
to be here," said Leslie Kritzer, a fellow actor. "I also just think
it's important to be here to remind people to have compassion and love
for people that are struggling with the disease of addiction."
Kritzer said she had long admired Hoffman from afar.
"He could do the movies,
and he did them brilliantly -- better than anyone else -- but he always
came back to his roots and he was a hero for all of us that could only
dream of doing what he accomplished," she said.
Comments