Manchester Man Gets 7 Years In Fentanyl Overdose Death

MANCHESTER, NJ — A Manchester Township man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for supplying the fentanyl that led to another man's overdose death in 2021, the Ocean County Prosecutor's Office announced.

Dandre Tubbs, 34, was sentenced by Superior Court Judge Lisa A. Puglisi on Aug. 5 to seven years for his guilty plea to manslaughter in the Aug. 16, 2021 death of the 35-year-old man in Manchester, Prosecutor Bradley D. Billhimer said. The sentence is subject to the terms of the No Early Release Act, meaning Tubbs will be required to serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence before he may be considered for parole eligibility.

Tubbs also was sentenced to seven years for distribution of fentanyl in connection with the overdose, and four years on a charge of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute in an unrelated incident, Billhimer said. The sentences will run concurrently, he said.

Tubbs pleaded guilty to all three charges before Puglisi on June 13.

Manchester police were called to a home on Aug. 16, 2021 and found the 35-year-old man unresponsive and determined he had died of an apparent drug overdose, Billhimer said.

The investigation by the prosecutor's office and Manchester police determined Tubbs supplied fentanyl to the victim on Aug. 15, 2021. A toxicology report confirmed the presence of fentanyl in the man's system, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office determined that the fentanyl found in the man's system was the cause of his death.

Tubbs was arrested Aug. 19, 2021 and has been in the Ocean County Jail since then.

Supervising Assistant Prosecutor Kristin Pressman and Assistant Prosecutor Victoria Veni handled the case, Billhimer said. The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crime Unit, Narcotics Strike Force, High Tech Crime Unit, and Victim Witness Advocacy Unit, the Manchester Township Police Department Detective Bureau, Narcotics Enforcement Team, K-9 Unit, and Patrol Division, the Ocean County Sheriff’s Office Crime Scene Investigation Unit, and the Ocean County Medical Examiner’s Office combined on the investigation.