ELLSWORTH, Maine — A Harrington man has been charged with manslaughter in connection with the overdose death of a man to whom he allegedly sold drugs, according to local police.
Eric Fletcher, 37, also has been charged with aggravated trafficking in scheduled drugs, the Ellsworth Police Department indicated Wednesday in a prepared statement.
Fletcher is accused of selling heroin to Brendon Bubar, 28, of Cherryfield, prior to Bubar overdosing on the drug at a local motel at the end of March, police said in the release.
“Using information and evidence recovered from Mr. Bubar’s motel room, agents from [the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency] were able to develop the drug trafficking case against Mr. Fletcher,” Lt. Harold Page of the Ellsworth Police Department wrote in the the statement.
Both the manslaughter charge and the aggravated trafficking charge are Class A felonies, convictions for which are punishable in Maine by up to 30 years in prison and a maximum fine of $50,000.
Manslaughter charges resulting from drug overdoses are rare in Maine, but not unheard of.
A former Lubec man was acquitted of the charge in December 2014 but found guilty of aggravated furnishing of a scheduled drug after he gave some Valium to his 12-year-old son, whose subsequent death was attributed to the boy’s diabetes. In 2002, two Portland residents were charged in separate incidents of giving drugs to people who later died as a result.
In one of those two 2002 cases the defendant was found guilty of the lesser charge of furnishing, while in the other case the defendant pleaded guilty and was the first in Maine to be convicted of manslaughter in connection with an overdose death.
With the assistance of the Washington County Sheriff’s Office, MDEA and the Hancock County District Attorney’s office, Fletcher was arrested Wednesday and taken to Hancock County Jail, Ellsworth police said Wednesday. A court date for an initial appearance by Fletcher has not yet been set.
