Portsmouth Woman Pleads Guilty To Selling Drug That Killed Man

CONCORD, NH — A Seacoast woman has pleaded guilty to a drug death charge and been sentenced to 15 to 40 years in prison, according to the New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office. Amy Matton, 37, of Portsmouth, was sentenced on Dec. 14, 2017, for selling methadone to Bryant Lausberg, 27, of Dover, in May 2016. She also received “additional concurrent and consecutive sentences for subsequent sales and possession with intent to sell cocaine, amphetamine and dextroamphetamine, methadone and morphine to additional people,” according to Benjamin Agati, a senior assistant attorney general.

Lausberg drove to Portsmouth to pick up six methadone pills from Matton on May 29, 2016, after texting her to purchase the drugs. He picked up the pills at around 2 p.m. and three hours later, his girlfriend found him deceased in his apartment.

Investigators used phone records from both subjects, video surveillance, and statements Matton made to build a case against her. She continued to sell drugs even after Lausberg’s death, according to Agati.

In a press statement from the NH AG’s Office, Agati noted that the case was part of a joint investigation and collaboration by the Dover Police Department, the Portsmouth Police Department, the DEA Tactical Diversion Squad, and the Rockingham County Attorney’s Office with the assistance of the New Hampshire Department of Justice’s Drug Prosecution Unit.

Lausberg, who also lived in Somersworth, was a health and physical education teacher who worked in the Concord School District and also at the Rollinsford Grade School. He was a Top 10 graduate from Somersworth High School and graduated cum laude from Plymouth State University.

Image via Portsmouth Police.