DA: Man delivered fatal dose of fentanyl

COURTHOUSE » A Norristown man is the eighth person this year to face charges in Montgomery County of allegedly delivering a fatal dose of opioids to another person.

Adam Thomas Paravati, 37, of the 1400 block of West Main Street, was arraigned on Wednesday before District Court Judge Francis J. Barnhardt III on charges of drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility, possession with intent to deliver controlled substances, possession of a controlled substance and recklessly endangering another person in connection with the Sept. 18 overdose death of Gregory Poper, 39, of Plymouth Township.

“Gregory Poper died from being poisoned,” District Attorney Kevin R. Steele said on Wednesday. “Dealers delivering poison

right to the doors of Montgomery County residents, preying upon those suffering from the disease of addiction, should think twice about coming over our borders.

“I’ll say it again: if you deal drugs like pills, heroin or fentanyl and we can prove that the drugs you sold caused someone’s death, you will be charged with homicide - drug delivery resulting in death,” Steele added.

Barnhardt set Paravati’s bail at $500,000 cash, which he was unable to post. Paravati remains at the county jail while awaiting his Nov. 30 preliminary hearing on the charges.

A conviction of drug delivery resulting in death carries a possible maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison.

An investigation began about 8:37 p.m. Sept. 18 when Plymouth police responded to the first block of Red Rowan Lane for a reported overdose. Arriving police found Poper dead in a second-floor bathroom and also found 11 blue packets commonly used to package heroin, or substances purported to be heroin, on the edge of the bathtub close to Poper’s body, according to the criminal complaint.

An autopsy determined that Poper died from drug intoxication caused by fentanyl, heroin, amphetamine and methadone, according to court papers. The manner of Poper’s death was listed as accidental.

But a forensic pathologist opined that absent the drug intoxication including fentanyl and heroin, Poper “would not have passed away,” according to the criminal complaint.

Five of the packets recovered from the bathroom contained a solid white powder, while six contained residue of white powder and the packets were submitted to a medical lab for testing, according to the criminal complaint filed by Plymouth detectives Christopher R. Schwartz and Andrew Moretti.

Tests determined some of the packets contained variations of the synthetic opioid fentanyl, which authorities alleged is 40 to 50 times stronger than street-level heroin, according to the criminal complaint.

In addition to testing materials recovered at the scene, detectives downloaded the contents of Poper’s cellphone and found text message conversations, on Sept. 17 and 18, between Poper and Paravati. The investigation determined Paravati delivered purported heroin to Poper by placing it in Poper’s black Chevrolet Malibu sedan, which was parked in the driveway of the Red Rowan Lane home, according to the criminal complaint.

In one text message Paravati allegedly wrote, “Yo take it easy on that its (sic) good,” according to the criminal complaint.

Based on their training and experience, detectives alleged Paravati was “indicating that he knows the substance he is delivering to Poper is more potent than heroin and that Poper should limit how much he actually uses,” according to the criminal complaint.

“The context of this

Adam Paravati