A Somers Point man pleaded guilty Nov. 2 to charges stemming from a fatal fentanyl overdose in December 2023, according to the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Dwayne Legette, 51, pleaded guilty to first-degree strict liability drug-induced death and third-degree distribution of a controlled dangerous substance.
The plea agreement calls for a recommended eight-year state prison sentence on the strict liability charge, with Legette required to serve 85% of that term, and a concurrent five-year sentence on the distribution charge. He would be supervised on parole for five years after his release.
Somers Point police responded to a report of an unresponsive man Dec. 25, 2023. The man was pronounced dead at the scene, where officers found a small amount of a suspected controlled dangerous substance. Testing confirmed the substance was fentanyl, and the medical examiner determined that the man died of fentanyl intoxication, prosecutors said.
Evidence showed Legette sold fentanyl to someone who then gave it to the man, according to the Prosecutor’s Office. The man ingested the substance and suffered an overdose.
According to the release, New Jersey law holds a person who distributes a controlled dangerous substance strictly liable for a death resulting from its ingestion. The offense carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The Somers Point Police Department and the Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office’s Gangs, Guns and Narcotics Unit investigated the case.
Source: Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office.
Somers Point man pleads guilty in fentanyl death
