New bail set for man accused in woman’s drug overdose death

NORRISTOWN » A man accused of delivering a fatal dose of fentanyl to an Abington woman has won his bid for a reconsideration of his bail pending his trial.

Bail for Andre Franchot Gary, 23, formerly of Bear, Del., was set at $500,000 cash with the acceptance of a surety bond already posted through a bail bondsman, according to an order signed by Montgomery County Judge Garrett D. Page. A previous order required that the $500,000 bail be accepted only in the form of cash but that order was rescinded.

The bail bond includes posting real estate as collateral, a cash payment and the bail bond company’s electronic monitoring of Gary.

In addition to the bond company’s monitoring system, the judge ordered county probation officials to place an electronic monitoring device on Gary prior to his release from the county jail.

“Once an address is verified and GPS is connected, the defendant may be released on the posted bail,” Page wrote in the court order.

The restriction on release on bail will be that Gary will be confined to an address in the 7300 block of Palmetto Street in Philadelphia, except to travel to and from his lawyer’s office. Gary is represented by Norristown defense lawyer John I. McMahon Jr.

Gary is awaiting trial on charges of drug delivery resulting in death, recklessly endangering another person, possession with intent to deliver heroin or fentanyl, possession of heroin or fentanyl and criminal use of a communication facility in connection with the June 1 drug-related death of Jacqueline Hearn, 58, of the 1700 block of Easton Road, Abington.

An investigation began about 3:09 p.m. June 1 when Abington police responded to Hearn’s apartment for a report of a heroin overdose. Arriving officers found a family member performing CPR on Hearn who “was not breathing,” according to the criminal complaint filed by detectives Rick Beaghley and Gregory Pitchford, two specially sworn county detectives working with the narcotics unit.

Hearn was later pronounced dead at a local hospital.

An autopsy determined Hearn’s death was the result of a combination of drugs including fentanyl. The coroner said “if not for the fentanyl in Hearn’s system, she would be alive,” according to the criminal complaint.

During the investigation, detectives found 12 blue wax paper bags and six red sandwich-type bags with no stamp or markings in the immediate area of where Hearn was discovered.

“The bags were of the type commonly used for the packaging of heroin. Also recovered was a white dinner plate with a white powdery substance and a rolled up dollar bill with white residue,” Beaghley and Pitchford wrote in the arrest affidavit.

The investigation revealed that around 1:38 p.m. June 1, Gary delivered a bundle of purported heroin to Hearn and her daughter outside of their apartment, according to the criminal complaint. The drug buy and delivery from Philadelphia by Gary had been arranged by text message communications between Gary and Hearn’s daughter, detectives alleged.

The following day, June 2, undercover detectives communicated with Gary and arranged for Gary to deliver more drugs to Hearn’s apartment, according to the criminal complaint.

Gary arrived about 12:32 a.m. and when he was stopped by police he was found possessing 11 clear sandwich-type bags containing blue wax packets and one red bag containing a blue wax packet. Detectives alleged the bags were similar to those found by Hearn’s body, according to the criminal complaint.

Gary was taken into custody without incident.

Lab tests determined the substance discovered on the dinner plate found near Hearn’s body and the substance contained in the packets recovered from Gary were the synthetic opioids acetyl fentanyl and fentanyl, which authorities alleged is “more than 50 times stronger than streetlevel heroin.”

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

Assistant District Attorney Tonya Lupinacci is prosecuting the case.