LANCASTER, Pa. — A 20-year-old New Jersey man was convicted of multiple charges, including delivery of fentanyl and drug delivery resulting in death, in Lancaster County Court last week, prosecutors said Tuesday.
Emilio Perralta, of Newark, was remanded to Lancaster County Prison after his bail was revoked following conviction, according to the Lancaster County District Attorney's Office.
He was found guilty of selling pure fentanyl to undercover police officers on two occasions in August and September 2019, and for delivering fentanyl to a woman who later died of an overdose on November 8 of the same year, prosecutors said.
An investigation of the latter incident determined the fentanyl used in the woman's overdose came from a dealer who stamped the bags with a blue paper sleeve labeled "DIABLO," according to evidence presented during the four-day trial.
The person who called 911 told authorities he received the fentanyl from a man who went by the nicknames "Rooster" and "Bucks," according to testimony.
On Nov. 23, 2019, Perralta was arrested on one of the pending fentanyl delivery charges and was found to be in possession of 68 bags that also contained blue wax paper sleeves with "DIABLO" stamped on them, prosecutors said.
During cross-examination at trial, Perralta was questioned about the name "Bucks," which he denied using or knowing anyone who went by such a name.
Assistant District Attorney Christopher E. Miller then presented evidence that the cell phone police confiscated from Perralta was named “Bucks’s iPhone," according to the DA's office.
“What we have shows you four separate occasions linked by one common component: the defendant,” Miller said in his closing statement at trial. “He was drug dealing on all four days and is the link between it all.”
The jury deliberated for two hours before returning its verdict. Perralta was convicted on two counts of delivery of fentanyl and one count each of possession with intent to deliver and drug delivery resulting in death.
Judge Jeffery D. Wright presided over the trial and will order sentence at a later date.
