Prosecutor: Man Charged With Supplying Fentanyl That Killed Brick Man

A South Plainfield man has been charged under the state’s strict liability for a drug-induced death statute, accused of selling a Brick Township man the drugs that led to his death in December.

Jesse Hay, 25, is charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, reckless manslaughter, distribution of fentanyl, possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute and possession of fentanyl, according a joint news release Thursday from Ocean County Prosecutor Joseph Coronato and Brick Township Police Chief Nils “Rick” Bergquist.

Anthony Busby, 24, was found unconscious when Brick police and EMS were called to a Marilyn Drive address shortly before 7 p.m. on Dec. 19, 2014, said Al Della Fave, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office. Busby was pronounced dead at 7:18 p.m. by Dr. Hinfey from Newark Beth Israel Hospital via telemetry.

Investigators found several white wax folds stamped with “730 Virus” in green ink and another 10 wax folds stamped “Strike Dead” with the picture of the grim reaper in red and black ink at the scene, Della Fave said.

Busby’s autopsy, conducted by Dr. Ian Hood of the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office, found his death was caused by an excessive amount of fentanyl in his system. The medical examiner’s report also confirmed that the wax folds stamped “730 Virus” and “Strike Dead” both contained fentanyl.

Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller in the opiate family that is used in hospitals and given intravenously. But last year there was a string of overdose deaths linked to heroin laced with fentanyl -- which is done to create a stronger high, according to a report on NJ.com.

In the following months, investigators from the Brick Township police department and the prosecutor’s office’s Major Crimes Unit, with assistance from the Edison Police Department, North Plainfield Police Department and the South Plainfield Police Department, were able to identify Hay as a suspect.

Hay, who has been in the Middlesex County jail since Dec. 23 on the drug possession and distribution charges, was served the drug-induced death arrest warrant Thursday afternoo, Della Fave said. Ocean County Superior Court Judge James M. Blaney set Hay’s bail at $250,000, no 10 percent.

Also assisting in the investigation were the Ocean County Special Operations Group and the Ocean County Sheriff’s Department Crime Scene Investigation unit.

The prosecutor’s office has conducted 19 drug-induced death investigations since Coronato was appointed prosecutor in March 2013.