Pennsylvania residents have likely known for a while that they may be at risk of being arrested and charged with a crime if they use or consume an illegal substance like heroin, cocaine or methamphetamine. It has also been a practice for law enforcement officers to arrest those persons who are suspected of dealing or transporting these substances when believed to have done either or both things.
Today, a new trend is emerging and that involves connecting criminal charges in cases involving drugs to the death of others who have used the substances. An example of this can be seen in a current case in Pike County. There, a man who was 21 years old with a known history of using multiple illegal substances such as heroin, crack cocaine and meth is said to have died after consuming liquid methadone.
Another man is accused of providing the now-deceased man with the methadone and he is now facing multiple criminal charges including felony drug delivery resulting in death. He has been arrested and is in custody with a bail that has been set at $75,000. The defendant is said to have agreed that he and the man who died drank some of the methadone together. It is not clear how the defendant is pleading with respect to the official charges. Other counts against him include delivery of a controlled substance and the criminal use of a communications facility.
People accused of drug-related crimes involving the death of others might find talking with an attorney in Pennsylvania a good way of understanding their defense options.
Source: Press Connects, “Pennsylvania man charged in deadly methadone overdose,” Anthony Borrelli, January 9, 2018