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Morris County Man Gets 12-Year Sentence For Role In Deadly Fentanyl OD At Local Hotel

A Morris County man has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars for his role in a Fentanyl overdose that claimed the life of a 19-year-old at a local hotel.

Mount Olive Police

Mount Olive Police

Photo Credit: Mount Olive Police via Facebook

John P. Rowe, formerly of Budd Lake, was sentenced to an aggregate term of 12 years New Jersey State Prison subject to the No Early Release Act on Saturday, April 29, Morris County Prosecutor Robert Carroll said.

Rowe, 30, pleaded guilty to first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death and other offenses on Wednesday, March 22.

The charges stem from the death of a man identified only as “G.B.” who was found unconscious at the Mount Olive Days Inn hotel on Wednesday, Sept. 22, 2021, rushed to a local hospital, and pronounced dead the following day, DailyVoice previously reported.

The Morris County Medical Examiner’s Office found G.B.’s cause of death to be fentanyl toxicity.

Investigators found that Rowe sold the victim Fentanyl in Morristown two days prior to his death and that his death resulted from its ingestion, Carroll said.

A separate investigation in June 2022 involved a search warrant carried out at Mount Olive residence where Rowe was known to live. The search turned up “a number of items, including more than five ounces of Methamphetamine,” authorities said.

Rowe was serving a probationary sentence at the time and was found to have violated its terms, leading to his detainment during court proceedings.

Assisting agencies include the Mount Olive Township Police Department, Morris County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit.

“Drug dealers should be on notice that the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office will not hesitate to charge illegal drug dealers with the first degree Strict Liability Drug-Induced Death statute when the facts support the connection between the dealer and the death of their user/victim,” Carroll said at the time of Rowe’s arrest. “Dealers of deadly Fentanyl should pay special attention as they are dealing lethal substances often to unknowing consumers who may overdose.”

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