Trenton man sentenced to NJ prison for manslaughter in fatal fentanyl overdose in Berkeley
TOMS RIVER - A Trenton man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in state prison for the death of a 55-year-old Berkeley man who overdosed on fentanyl last September, said Ocean County Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer.
This sentence requires that Ryan Thompson, 35, serve at least 85 percent of his incarceration term before he is eligible for parole. He pleaded guilty to the charge before state Superior Court Judge Kimarie Rahill on March 4.
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On Sept. 29, Berkeley Police responded to a home on Torrey Pines Drive for a report of an unresponsive male. The victim was already dead when officers arrived and the cause of death appeared to be an overdose, according to authorities.
Later, a toxicology analysis by the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed that fentanyl in the victim’s system was the cause of his death. The Prosecutor’s Office has not identified the victim by name.
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An investigation into the circumstances surrounding the victim’s death determined that one day before he died, Thompson and his co-defendants — Michael Wormann, 38, of Toms River, and Tina Martinez, 61, of Trenton — were all involved in supplying fentanyl to the victim, according to the Prosecutor’s Office.
On March 18, Wormann and Martinez pleaded guilty to fentanyl distribution before Judge Rahill and the Prosecutor’s Office said it will recommend that the pair be sentenced to 364 days in the Ocean County Jail as a condition of probation. They are both scheduled to be sentenced on June 7.
Assistant Prosecutor Stephen Burke supervised the case on behalf of the state of New Jersey.
The Major Crime Unit of the Prosecutor’s Office, its Narcotics Strike Force and Victim Witness Unit, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Crime Scene Investigations Unit, the Berkeley and Trenton police departments, and the New Jersey State Police, all assisted in either the investigation or prosecution of the case.
Contact Asbury Park Press reporter Erik Larsen at elarsen@gannettnj.com.
This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Trenton NJ man sentenced for fatal fentanyl overdose in Berkeley
