A female resident of Trenton has admitted distributing fentanyl that caused the death of an Englishtown woman, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced on July 23.
Tarashanna Blake, 33, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Kevin McNulty in Newark to an information charging her with one count of distribution and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl relating to the overdose death of an Englishtown woman, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
According to documents filed in this case and to statements made in court, on May 15, 2018, a 39-year old woman from Englishtown texted Blake seeking to buy heroin. Blake and the woman discussed the “stamp” or “brand” of heroin Blake was selling and the purchase price. The two women agreed to meet at a location around Englishtown to complete the sale.
Blake obtained the “CAMEL”-stamped heroin and traveled to the agreed upon location and sold to the woman from Englishtown a controlled substance packaged like heroin, which was later determined to be fentanyl.
That afternoon, Englishtown police officers responded to a location in the borough to follow up on a report of an overdose death of a female.
Upon their arrival at the scene, the police officers discovered the female resident and in her possession were several wax folds of suspected heroin stamped “CAMEL” and empty wax folds stamped “CAMEL.”
A laboratory analysis of the wax folds bearing the “CAMEL” stamp determined the substance to be fentanyl, a much more potent narcotic than heroin. An autopsy of the Englishtown woman found her cause of death to be acute fentanyl toxicity.
For distributing and possessing fentanyl, Blake faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million fine, and, because the offense resulted in death, she is subject to significant sentencing enhancements. Sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 3, according to the press release from Honig’s office.