DAUPHIN COUNTY, Pa. — Charges have been filed following the death of a Dauphin County Prison inmate, according to the Dauphin County District Attorney's Office.
Richard Leonard Weikel has been charged with drug delivery resulting in death and contraband (possession of a controlled substance by an inmate) in connection to the Jan. 17 overdose death of Michael Butler.
Butler, 36, was found unresponsive in his bunk by prison staff responding to a medical emergency call at 9:38 p.m., officials said.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Weikel admitted to detectives that he secretly smuggled what he thought was heroin into the prison in one of his shoes on Jan. 17. Officials said that although Weikel believed the drug was heroin, it was, in fact, fentanyl.
Weikel allegedly gave some of the "heroin" to fellow inmate Butler. After ingesting the fentanyl, Butler suffered from a medical emergency and died as a result of an overdose.
As a result of the overdose, Dauphin County Prison has instituted new methods to prevent the smuggling of controlled substances into the prison using shoes. At the March 27 meeting of the Board of Prison Inspectors, Director of Criminal Justice John T. Bey is expected to detail the new measures.