Man Fatally OD'd On Fentanyl, Heroin In Plainfield Apartment

PLAINFIELD, NJ — A man was found dead in his Plainfield apartment last October due to a mixture of heroin and fentanyl.

And a Somerset County man appeared in federal court this week on charges that he sold the drugs that resulted in his death, U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger announced today.

According to federal prosecutors, in October 2022 Thomas Kane Miller, 38, of Somerset distributed a mixture of ffentanyl and heroin to an individual who died as a result of using the substance.

Police found the second man dead inside his home, and in the home were two wax folds containing fentanyl and heroin bearing a unique stamp, which law enforcement linked to Miller.

Shortly before the victim’s death, the victim and Miller were communicating about arranging to meet, said U.S. Attorneys.

Miller is charged with one count of possession with the intent to distribute fentanyl and heroin and one count of distribution of fentanyl and heroin that resulted in a death. He is facing 20 years to life in prison.

Ten days prior, Miller was found in possession of multiple wax folds of heroin and fentanyl bearing the same unique stamp, in a separate incident.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the New York DEA Strike Force, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino, III, and members of the Somerset County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor John P. McDonald, and members of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone, with the investigation, leading to the charges.

The arrest was the result of an investigation by the New York Strike Force, a crime-fighting unit comprising federal, state and local law enforcement agencies supported by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force and the New York/New Jersey High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area.