Guilty plea in fentanyl overdose death
NORRISTOWN » A Skippack man has admitted to selling the drug fentanyl to a 20-year-old Perkiomen man who later died after overdosing on the synthetic opioid analgesic.
Patrick Ryan Yahner, 20, of the 3800 block of Center Avenue, pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Court to a felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death in connection with the April 2017 overdose death of Justin C. Service. Yahner was 19 at the time of the crime.
Judge Todd D. Eisenberg deferred sentencing so that court officials can complete a background investigative report about Yahner. That investigation will require Yahner to undergo drug and alcohol evaluations before his sen-
tencing hearing later this year.
Yahner remains in the county jail without bail while awaiting sentencing. Yahner faces a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison on the charge. However, state sentencing guidelines could allow for a lesser sentence.
Assistant District Attorney Tonya Lupinacci is prosecuting the case. Yahner is represented by defense lawyer Brendan Campbell.
An investigation began about 11:10 a.m. April 9, 2017, when state police at Skippack responded to a Tudor Road home in Perkiomen for a reported drug overdose and found Service dead in the basement of the residence. Court documents indicate Service was discovered unresponsive in the basement by a relative.
An autopsy determined Service died of fentanyl toxicity and the manner of death was ruled accidental.
Prosecutors said fentanyl is similar to morphine but is 50 to 100 times more potent.
During the investigation, detectives examined Service’s cellphone and determined that Service had text message conversations with Yahner beginning at 9:09 p.m. April 8. During the conversations, Service asked Yahner, “U got f” to which Yahner replied, “we can get it in Skippack,” according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Trooper Barry Bertolet and county Detective Paul Bradbury.
Detectives who analyzed the “coded” text messages alleged Service was asking Yahner if he had fentanyl for sale and Service indicated he had $20 to purchase the drugs, according to court documents. Yahner allegedly initially told Service that he would try to get two bags for $20 but later texted Service that it cost him $40 to purchase fentanyl.
Court documents indicate that the pair allegedly met outside a store in Trappe where the drug delivery took place about 10:45 p.m. April 8. Service, according to court documents, sent another text message to Yahner at 11:13 p.m., telling Yahner he liked the controlled substances that were sold to him.
When Yahner was confronted by detectives about the text message conversations, he admitted he obtained four unmarked bags which he gave to Service in exchange for $40 and said Service gave him two of the bags, according to the criminal complaint.
“Yahner told investigators that he was the one that provided the fentanyl to Service that killed him,” Bertolet and Bradbury wrote in the arrest affidavit. “Yahner told investigators that he knew the meeting with Service occurred in April because it was the anniversary of another friend that overdosed and died the previous year.”