HARTFORD, Conn. — A federal grand jury in New Haven recently returned an indictment charging a Wethersfield man with distribution of fentanyl and oxycodone which allegedly led to an overdose death in 2023, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
According to prosecutors, Jimmy Lassus, 39, appeared in court in Hartford on Wednesday and entered a plea of not guilty. He has been detained since being arrested on a federal criminal complaint on April 11.
Court documents and statements allege that early in the morning on Oct. 6, 2023, Meriden police responded to a residence after receiving a report of a suspected overdose. They found a 27-year-old woman unresponsive in a bathroom.
The woman was taken to the hospital, where she was declared dead, prosecutors said. An investigation discovered that for several months before the victim’s death, she engaged in multiple drug-related texting conversations with Lassus, which revealed he supplied her with narcotics, according to prosecutors.
The text messages noted that Lassus supplied the victim with oxycodone and fentanyl that she ingested in the hours before her death, prosecutors said. In the text messages and in a journal entry, the victim said it was her first time using fentanyl, according to prosecutors.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner said the victim’s death was the result of acute intoxication caused by the combined effects of fentanyl, benzodiazepines, xylazine and oxycodone.
Prosecutors said that if Lassus is convicted, he faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years. The investigation is being conducted by the DEA New Haven Task Force and Meriden Police Department with assistance from the Wethersfield Police Department. Prosecutors said the task force consists of members of the DEA, U.S. Marshals Service, IRS – Criminal Investigations Division, Connecticut State Police and numerous local police departments.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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