Guilty verdict in overdose

WEST CHESTER » A Common Pleas jury on Friday found a Philadelphia man guilty of delivering a fatal dose of a powerful synthetic heroin to a Tredyffrin woman at her parent’s home, a case that highlighted the struggle with opioid addiction and accidental overdoses in Chester County.

The panel of nine men and three women deliberated just over two hours before finding defendant Ricky “Fresh” Lowe” guilty on charges of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, and criminal use of aa communication facility.

The panel agreed with the prosecution that Lowe had delivered a package of 3 methyl fentanyl to 32-year-old Alanna Holt that ended up killing her. Judge Patrick Carmody, who presided over the week-long trial, ordered Lowe taken into custody and held at Chester County Prison to await sentencing. He faces a possible maximum sentence of 10 to 20 years in state prison on the charge of drug delivery resulting in death.

Police were called to Holt’s home in the Malvern area of Tredyffrin at about 7:30 a.m. on Nov. 2, 2018 for the report of an unresponsive female. In his testimony Tuesday, Holt’s father, Timothy Holt, described going to check on his daughter and finding her slumped at the foot of her bed, upright and unconscious. He tried to revive her, as did emergency personnel, but was unsuccessful.

Lowe, 25, was arrested by Tredyffrin police in 2018 after investigators were able to tie text messages sent from his phone to Holt’s cellphone in which the two discussed trading drugs for gift cards and prescription pills. A township detective was able to pose as Holt in a series of texts in which he lured Lowe to her home to drop off another delivery of suspected 3-methyl fentanyl a few days after her death.

Police were waiting, and took a man later identified as a Lowe into custody.

Holt was one of 112 Chester County residents who died from an accidental drug overdose in 2018, and one of those who succumbed to a substance that dealers in the area were distributing as an alternative to heroin — socalled “analogs” like 3-methyl fentanyl.

This story will be updated on Saturday.