Fentanyl dealer pleads guilty in fatal overdose case
TRENTON » A city man admits he distributed fentanyl but is not taking responsibility for the drug overdose death of a 39-year-old suburban woman.
Quasaan Bethea, 33, pleaded guilty this month to distribution and possession with intent to distribute the highly toxic substance, an opioid 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in New Jersey.
A federal grand jury in August 2019 handed up an indictment charging Bethea with major drug offenses, including conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death.
The Trenton man, according to the allegations in the indictment, knowingly and intentionally conspired with others to supply fentanyl in Monmouth County, which resulted in the death of a 39-year-old woman in Englishtown on May 15, 2018.
Federal documents identify the decedent as “Victim-1.” She reportedly “sought out Bethea and others to purchase heroin” and ended up receiving a lethal batch of fentanyl that was packaged to look like heroin, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Englishtown Police responded to a report of an overdose death and found Victim-1. An autopsy found her cause of death to be acute fentanyl toxicity, authorities said.
Bethea pleaded guilty Wednesday by videoconference before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced Thursday. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 26, where he faces up to 20 years in federal prison and a $1 million fine.
If Bethea was found guilty of conspiracy to distribute fentanyl resulting in death, he would have faced at least 20 years and up to life in prison.