Two former sailors pleaded guilty Monday in federal court to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances after counterfeit oxycodone pills containing fentanyl were sold to sailors assigned to the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln.
The pills led to one sailor’s death and another sailor’s hospitalization.
Bailey A. Szramowski, 29, provided an active duty sailor aboard the Lincoln with pills presented as oxycodone in December 2022, according to a Justice Department release. The sailor was identified in court documents only by the initials A.N.
A.N. overdosed and died the following month while on leave in San Leandro, California. His death was attributed to “acute fentanyl intoxication,” according to the release.
Local law enforcement officials discovered evidence of drug use at the scene. A subsequent toxicology report confirmed that fentanyl intoxication caused A.N.’s death.
Ten days after A.N. died, Szramowski sold three more purported oxycodone pills to another Lincoln sailor, identified only as C.L. Szramowski made the sale despite knowing about A.N.’s death.
C.L. suffered an apparent overdose and was hospitalized after receiving the pills. Unlike A.N., C.L. survived the encounter.
Court documents state that Szramowski and his wife, fellow sailor Johnnese H. Poomaihealani, 25, later contacted C.L. The couple “instructed C.L. to tell law enforcement he received the pills from A.N. and not Szramowski.”
C.L. later agreed to cooperate with a Naval Criminal Investigative Service investigation. The investigation examined drug distribution activities aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln and the circumstances surrounding A.N.’s death.
According to the complaint, C.L. told investigators that A.N. and Szramowski had sold Percocet pills to other sailors, including C.L., for about a year. Court documents described those pills as likely counterfeit.
C.L. alleged that Szramowski sold the pills aboard the aircraft carrier during its 2022 deployment. The sales allegedly continued after the Lincoln returned to San Diego, California.
According to C.L., Szramowski purchased the pills through the mail and received them at a P.O. box in Coronado, California. He then charged sailors for the pills through CashApp, a mobile payment application.
The complaint also accused Szramowski of attempting to conceal his alleged involvement in the events leading to A.N.’s death. He allegedly directed A.N.’s family to delete text messages exchanged between Szramowski and A.N. from the dead sailor’s phone.
A.N.’s family refused to delete the messages, according to the complaint. Szramowski allegedly told family members that “he ‘might go down for murder’ or it would ‘ruin his future,’ or words to that effect, if the police found the messages.”
Military records state that Szramowski reported to the USS Abraham Lincoln in May 2021. He arrived after completing boot camp and surface combat systems training at Naval Station Great Lakes, Illinois.
Szramowski was promoted to logistics specialist third class in June 2024. He and Poomaihealani were initially charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and cocaine.
The husband and wife pleaded guilty Monday to one count each of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Their sentencing hearings are scheduled for Dec. 11, 2026.
Szramowski faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years in prison and a possible maximum sentence of 40 years. He also faces a fine of up to $5 million.
Poomaihealani faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison. She could also be ordered to pay a fine of up to $1 million for the conspiracy conviction.
