Mercer Man Sentenced For Distributing Fentanyl That Killed Woman

MERCER COUNTY, NJ — A Mercer County man was sentenced to 15 years in prison for distributing fentanyl that caused the death of a Monmouth County woman, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.

Quasaan Bethea, 35, of Trenton, previously pleaded guilty to one count of conspiring to distribute fentanyl, which he admitted caused the death of the woman. He was sentenced Wednesday by Chief Judge Wolfson in Trenton federal court.

According to the documents filed in this case:

On May 15, 2018, a woman from Englishtown, sought out Bethea and his conspirator, Tarashanna Blake, to purchase a particular “brand” or “stamp” of heroin known as “Camel.” The packages purchased by the woman from Bethea and Blake, however, contained fentanyl, and not heroin, according to court documents. Shortly after Bethea and Blake distributed the CAMEL-stamped fentanyl to Victim-1, Victim-1 died of a fentanyl overdose.

Later that same day, undercover law enforcement officers used the woman’s cell phone to purchase more heroin from the duo. Blake spoke with an undercover officer and agreed to the sale. At the time and location, the officer told Blake that he/she had arrived. Blake responded “park” and “my [boyfriend] gonna walk to you.” Bethea parked his vehicle behind the undercover vehicle and exited. As the officer approached Bethea, he discarded objects packaged like heroin and stamped “CAMEL,” which were later determined to be fentanyl.

Bethea has also been sentenced to three years of supervised release.

Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Susan A. Gibson; detectives from the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Acting Prosecutor Lori Linskey; the Englishtown Police Department under the direction of Peter S. Cooke Jr.; and Trenton Police Department’s Narcotics Task Force, under the direction of Acting Police Director Steve Wilson, for their assistance with the investigation.

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