Robert Vineberg, who was arrested on suspicion of providing drug to late Phili Seymore Hoffman, has revealed the 'Capote' star was a "hard-core addict" while denying his role in Hoffman's death.
Vineberg, a jazz musician and an addict himself, called Hoffman a friend in a jailhouse interview to the New York Post.
"He was my friend. I didn't kill him - and I could've saved him. If I knew he was in town, I would've said, 'Hey, let's make an AA meeting'. If I was with him, it wouldn't have happened. Not under my guard," said Vineberg, 57.
Hoffman, 46, was found dead on February 2 of a suspected drug overdose. More than 70 bags of heroin in his apartment at the time of his death.
Vineberg believes Hoffman's rehab-clean body could not take the amount of drug, resulting in an overdose.
"When you're clean for that long of a time, your body can't take as much. Your body doesn't have the tolerance. He was using needles. He was a hard-core addict.
Vineberg is convinced that Hoffman's habit was 10 bags a day.
"How much was he found with? Seventy bags. You do the math... That's a one-week supply," he said.
He, howevedr, denied he was the supplier of the drugs found at Hoffman's Greenwich Village apartment.
"When we got together, we talked about books. And art. He was a normal guy. You wouldn't know he was an Oscar winner. He loved his kids. I offer my condolences to his family."
Vineberg said he last met Hoffman in October at his apartment where some 300 bags of heroin were seized in a raid last week after an informant told police he had seen Hoffman there. Hoffman's phone number was found on Vineberg's cellphone and two others recovered from the apartment, police sources say.
Describing Hoffman's struggle against his addiction including his 28-day rehab stint, Vineberg said, "He left me a voicemail in December saying, 'I'm clean'.
"We'd text back and forth, 'Oh, I got one day on you!', 'No I've got one day on you,'" Vineberg said, adding they lost touch at the end of the year.
Vineberg was charged with felony drug possession and was one of three suspected dealers charged in connection with Hoffman but he claims he is being made a "scapegoat" in the case.
