PSL man gets 15 years in fatal overdose case, pleads no contest to manslaughter

PORT ST. LUCIE — A Port St. Lucie man pleaded no contest to manslaughter and other charges after police reported linking him to the fentanyl death in 2022 of 34-year-old Michael McGaffin, according to court records, police and a prosecutor on Friday.

Edwin Lewis Thompson, 32, was arrested in October 2023 on charges including first-degree murder − unlawful distribution of a controlled substance; sale, delivery or possession with intent to sell or deliver fentanyl; possession of fentanyl; and unlawful use of a two-way communications device.

In a March 1 change of plea hearing in Circuit Judge Lawrence M. Mirman’s court, Thompson pleaded no contest to manslaughter; sale, delivery, or possession with intent to sell or deliver fentanyl; possession of fentanyl; and unlawful use of a two-way communications device, records show.

He was sentenced to 15 years each on the first two charges and five years each on the latter two charges. The sentences run concurrently. The no contest plea also included a separate drug-related case from 2022, court records show.

Assistant State Attorney Justin Cormier said Friday the defense "had discussed the possibility of him wanting to resolve the case quickly without going through any motions, no depositions."

"I had spoken with the victim's family and the law enforcement agency and we had discussed 15 years and we felt that would be a good sentence to close out the case, avoid any issues possibly down the road. So we negotiated the 15-year deal to close out both of the cases,” Cormier said. “This guaranteed that he does 15 years and that he’s a convicted felon on all the counts.”

A defense attorney in the case could not be reached Friday.

The case began July 20, 2022, when police went to a parking lot at Winn-Dixie at Southwest Bayshore and Southwest Port St. Lucie boulevards. McGaffin’s brother found McGaffin dead.

The brother said McGaffin had called him about 7 p.m. on July 19, but the brother didn’t answer because he was at work, an affidavit states. The brother tried to call him back the next morning, but McGaffin didn’t answer. The brother wound up contacting Thompson, described in an affidavit as a “drug dealer” McGaffin purchased narcotics from in the past.

The brother “was told by Mr. Thompson to check the Winn-Dixie parking lot, which unfortunately when he did, he found his brother deceased,” Acting Port St. Lucie Police Chief Richard Del Toro has said.

Investigators noted McGaffin was in the driver’s seat of his Toyota Avalon.

Del Toro has said investigators found a baggie with a powder substance that tested positive for fentanyl, an extremely powerful synthetic opioid that has been linked to many deaths.

According to an arrest affidavit, the chief medical examiner determined McGaffin died of “fentanyl intoxication” with the manner “best classified as accident.”

Police “searched the victim's phone and located messages between the victim and Thompson about meeting up at the Winn-Dixie that night so the suspect could sell drugs to the victim,” Del Toro has said.

Del Toro said police found transactions on the phone through an app indicating McGaffin sent Thompson $20 for the drugs.

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Will Greenlee is a breaking news reporter for TCPalm. Follow Will on X @OffTheBeatTweet or reach him by phone at 772-267-7926. E-mail him at will.greenlee@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: 15 year sentence in fatal overdose manslaughter case in PSL