Dealer Sentenced For Fatal Cocaine, Fentanyl Overdose In Morris County

HANOVER TOWNSHIP, NJ — A Morris Plains resident has been sentenced to prison after admitting he sold drugs that led to another man's overdose death, officials said.

Police found the 28-year-old victim unconscious at a residence in Whippany in early 2023, and determined that he died from a cocaine, fentanyl, and acetyl fentanyl overdose.

The Morris County Prosecutor's Office later charged Anthony Dello-Russo, who already faced drug possession charges, with first-degree strict liability for a drug-induced death.

Officials said that Dello-Russo sold the drugs to the man a day before his overdose death.

Dello-Russo, 28, pleaded guilty to the strict liability charge and a second-degree possession of cocaine charge. A judge sentenced him to seven years in New Jersey State Prison, the prosecutor's office announced on Friday.

Under the plea agreement, Dello-Russo also agreed to forfeit $51,788, said the Morris County Prosecutor's Office.