Woman faces jail in friend’s heroin OD
NORRISTOWN >> A Bucks County woman was sent to prison on heroin trafficking charges, a crime uncovered after her friend was found dead from a drug overdose in Limerick.
Ivy Crystal Capoferri, 38, of the unit block of Sweetgum Road, Levittown, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 15 months to three years in the State Correctional Institution at Muncy after she pleaded guilty to charges of possession with intent to deliver heroin and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with a May 2018 incident in Limerick.
Judge Steven T. O’Neill, who accepted a plea agreement in the matter, also ordered Capoferri to complete three years’ probation
following parole, meaning Capoferri will be under court supervision for six years.
The judge indicated Capoferri, who was represented by defense lawyer Hindi Kranzel, will be under intensive drug treatment supervision while serving her parole and probationary periods.
“What she pleaded guilty to is essentially providing drugs to her friend and also utilizing a cellphone to make those arrangements,” said county Assistant District Attorney Douglas Lavenberg, explaining the nature of Capoferri’s admission.
The investigation began about 6:38 a.m. May 6, 2018, when Limerick police were dispatched to a residence in the 800 block of North Lewis Road for a report of “a cardiac emergency, possibly involving a drug overdose,” according to a criminal complaint filed by Montgomery County Detective James Lavin.
Emergency responders found Veronica Detwiler exhibiting no signs of life in a bathroom at her residence. Police administered a dose of Narcan but Detwiler did not react and she subsequently was pronounced dead.
After an autopsy, the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office ruled that Detwiler died from “multiple drug intoxication, specifically that there was a combination of substances found in Detwiler’s system, not only heroin, and included cocaine and fentanyl, according to court papers. The manner of Detwiler’s death was listed as “undetermined.”
The autopsy findings regarding the drug toxicity prevented authorities from pursuing a more serious charge of drug delivery resulting in death against Capoferri, according to officials.
Lavenberg said the state prison sentence is significant.
“It does send a message that severe punishment exists for those that contribute to this opioid crisis,” Lavenberg said.
Investigators found a syringe in Detwiler’s pocket and a small, blue heroin bag torn into two pieces in a paper cup in the bathroom, court documents indicate. When police went to the basement of the residence they encountered Capoferri, “who at the time was crying,” detectives alleged. Capoferri identified herself as Detwiler’s friend and said she arrived at the residence the night before, according to court papers.
When detectives interviewed Capoferri further, she claimed that she and Detwiler were addicted to heroin and crack cocaine, according to the criminal complaint. When authorities searched Capoferri’s belongings they found several pieces of used heroin bags that had the identical markings observed on the bag found near Detwiler.
Capoferri, according to court documents, told detectives that she purchased nine bags of heroin on May 5 and arrived at Detwiler’s residence about 10:30 p.m. Capoferri claimed she used three bags of heroin before arriving at Detwiler’s home and two bags while she was at the home.
Capoferri allegedly told detectives she gave Detwiler one bag of heroin “and advised her not to use the drugs intravenously.”
Capoferri, according to the arrest affidavit, stated, “I’m very remorseful for Veronica. I wish it was me.”
During the investigation, detectives reviewed the contents of the cellphones belonging to Detwiler and Capoferri and found communications that revealed that Capoferri agreed to deliver two bags of heroin to Detwiler on May 5, according to the criminal complaint.
“She was there on scene when the police arrived, she gave a full confession the day of, she pled guilty, she took responsibility and she didn’t make the family go through a full trial,” Lavenberg said. “But it’s a lose-lose situation, she lost a friend in this whole process.”
The judge ordered Capoferri to pay $1,500 restitution to Detwiler’s estate.
“What she pleaded guilty to is essentially providing drugs to her friend and also utilizing a cellphone to make those arrangements.”
- Montgomery County Prosecutor Douglas Lavenberg