Drug Dealer Convicted Of Involuntary Manslaughter For Fatal OD

SALEM, MA — A drug dealer was convicted Wednesday of involuntary manslaughter for selling fentanyl to a Lynn man who fatally overdosed in 2015, the Essex County DA's Office said. Carlos Hunter, 33, of Lynn was deemed responsible for the death of 37-year-old Joshua Miller.

Hunter will be sentenced Sept. 28. He is currently serving 2 to 2 1/2 years in state prison for selling fentanyl to undercover Lynn Police officers.

"Securing a manslaughter conviction against a drug dealer is extremely challenging," Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett said.

Prosecutors said Hunter sold Miller the fentanyl that he overdosed on. Miller was addicted to pain medication after being in a car accident at 16 years old, according to prosecutors. On July 13, 2015, he was found unresponsive at a sober house in Lynn. Miller was transported to North Shore Medical Center in Salem, where he was pronounced dead.

Through search warrants, investigators obtained cell data that showed Hunter and Miller meeting for a drug deal an hour before Miller was found at the sober house. The prosecution stressed the importance that there was no evidence Miller purchased drugs from anyone else that day, and the Medical Examiner said the cause of death was cut heroin and fentanyl intoxication.