A convicted heroin dealer was charged Thursday with providing drugs to a Wadsworth man who accidentally overdosed and died in an Akron parking lot in September.
LeTroy Vaughn, 24, of Akron, was charged with felony counts of involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs and drug trafficking. Vaughn is accused of dealing fentanyl — an extremely potent narcotic drug — to 25-year-old Eric Ward, who used the drugs and died in the McDonald’s parking lot at 1650 Copley Road.
Fentanyl is a drug 40 to 50 times more potent than heroin, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Some drug dealers sell fentanyl itself, and others sell it mixed with heroin to boost the drug’s potency.
Experts have attributed a dramatic spike in the number of opiate overdose deaths to the rise of street fentanyl. Many drug users overdose, experts report, because they use the same dose of fentanyl as they would heroin despite the difference in potency.
In Ward’s case, he used fentanyl only. Police reported they found him dead in a parked van just after midnight on Sept. 28.
Ward’s family members followed a national trend after his death by acknowledging his addiction in his obituary. They asked the community to donate money in lieu of flowers to help establish Wadsworth Against Substance Abuse, an advocacy group.
According to police reports, the Copley Road McDonald’s parking lot is a hotbed of drug activity. Dozens have been arrested there on charges of drug abuse, possession and trafficking since 2009. Gary Guenther, chief investigator for the Summit County Medical Examiner’s Office, said fatal overdoses there are unusual, however.
If convicted of selling the fentanyl that killed Ward, Vaughn could face 11 or possibly more years in prison. He’s already serving a mandatory three-year prison sentence for trafficking heroin.
In that case, police reported they found an ounce of heroin, a digital scale and thousands of dollars in drug money during a traffic stop in February 2015. Vaughn and codefendant Gabriel Dixon were charged, according to court records. Dixon was sentenced to 2½ years in prison for his involvement.
Nick Glunt can be reached at 330-996-3565 or nglunt@thebeaconjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @NickGluntABJ.