Man admits role in woman’s overdose death

NORRISTOWN >> A Philadelphia man is on his way to state prison for his role in the fatal overdose of a Lower Providence woman.

Maurice C. “Mo” Johnson, 28, of the 7300 block of Frontenac Street, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 8 to 16 years in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to charges of drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in connection with the Jan. 10, 2019, overdose death of 55-year-old Kathleen “Kat” Sicoli.

Sicoli’s body was discovered in her home in the 700 block of Sunnyside Avenue in Lower Providence. An autopsy, according to court documents, determined Sicoli died from ingesting the drug fentanyl which was mixed with xylazine, which is commonly used as a veterinary sedative, analgesic and anesthetic for large animals.

Johnson’s sentence was imposed by Judge William R. Carpenter, who accepted a plea agreement in the case.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Scott Frame. Defense lawyer Vanessa Bellino represented Johnson.

Other charges of criminal use of a communication facility, reck

lessly endangering another person and possession of a controlled substance were dismissed against Johnson as part of the plea agreement.

The investigation began about 2:27 p.m. Jan. 10, 2019, when Lower Providence police responded to Sicoli’s residence for a wellbeing check after a relative of Sicoli reported she had not heard from Sicoli since Jan. 6. Relatives told police Sicoli had been battling addiction to either alcohol or heroin for a long period of time, according to court papers.

When officers forced entry into the residence they discovered Sicoli’s lifeless body, according to the criminal complaint filed by county Detective Michael Reynolds and Lower Providence Detective Sgt. Terrence Kennedy. Investigators noticed two blue wax paper baggies on a tray as well as an orange syringe on a tray table near Sicoli, court documents indicate. Authorities also seized Sicoli’s cellphone as evidence.

When investigators downloaded the data stored on Sicoli’s phone, including text messages, they discovered a “coded drug-related conversation” between Johnson and Sicoli, according to the arrest affidavit.

“Based upon the text messages between Sicoli and Johnson, it was clearly obvious that Johnson was a source of supply of heroin/ fentanyl for Sicoli,” Reynolds and Kennedy wrote in the arrest affidavit.

Undercover detectives later assumed control of Sicoli’s cellphone and on Jan. 11 arranged to purchase drugs from Johnson, who was unaware Sicoli was deceased, court papers indicate. Johnson was taken into custody when he showed up at Sicoli’s residence and was found in possession of a quantity of heroin/fentanyl packaged in blue wax paper bags, according to the criminal complaint.

When questioned by detectives at that time, Johnson said he was at Sicoli’s house to “get some money,” according to the criminal complaint.