EPHRATA, Pa. — Two central Pennsylvania men been charged with delivering drugs that resulted in a victim's overdose death in March.
Jordon Andrew Sweigart, 26, of Reinholds, and Harvey Turner V, 30, of Denver, were arraigned on Oct. 4 after a months-long investigation by the Ephrata Police Department.
Police say they responded to the overdose, which was initially dispatched as a cardiac arrest, at around 10:44 p.m. on March 26 when the victim's roommate came home from work, discovered the victim in their bedroom and called 911. The Lancaster County Coroner's Office determined the victim's cause of death was actually acute fentanyl toxicity on April 25.
At the scene, police found an empty hypodermic needle, four suboxone pills and a folded piece of tinfoil with residue that tested positive for fentanyl. The roommate allegedly told police that the victim was in recovery from an opioid addiction and he thought the victim may have relapsed about two weeks ago based on their behavior.
Turner, whom police knew from previous interactions was also an opioid user, was present at the scene as well. He allegedly told police that he was worried about the victim and had arrived at the residence between the time the roommate got home and the police arrived to check on them. Turner also claimed to be clean from drugs for about a year, according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Police forensically analyzed the phones of the victim and Turner, according to a criminal complaint. Investigators found messages between the two discussing buying and selling drugs to each other.
Turner began regularly buying drugs from Sweigart around March 16 and subsequently selling those drugs to the victim, according to police.
Around 6:35 p.m. on March 25, Turner and the victim texted about the effects of the drugs. These are the last messages the victim sends to Turner.
Turner again texted the victim around 10:40 p.m. on March 26--about four minutes before police arrived at the victim's residence--to say he and an unidentified person are worried about the victim.
Police found no messages on the victim's phone indicating that he was buying drugs from anyone else other than Turner. They also found no messages on Turner's phone indicating that he was buying heroin or fentanyl from anyone other than Sweigart.
Turner and Sweigart are each charged with one count of drug delivery resulting in death.
They are scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Oct. 17, court records show. Sweigart posted $150,000 bail; Turner remains in Lancaster County Prison, unable to post bail.
