Guilty Plea In Morrisville Man's Overdose Death

MORRISVILLE, PA —A New Jersey man has pleaded guilty recently in Mercer County Court to delivering the drugs that led to a man’s overdose death in Morrisville in 2019.

Lamar Daniel Campbell, 44, of Trenton, entered guilty pleas on Dec. 8, 2023, to strict liability for drug-induced death, possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, and resisting arrest, the Bucks County District Attorney's Office said Monday.

He was sentenced to seven years in state prison and five years of probation. Campbell was originally charged in December 2019 in Bucks County with providing the heroin/fentanyl mix to Joseph Prieth, 40, that led to his overdose death in June 2019. The case was later adopted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office, leading to a grand jury indictment for causing Prieth’s death.

The investigation began on the night of June 29, 2019, when officers with the Morrisville Police Department were dispatched to an apartment in the 300 block of Plaza Boulevard for an overdose.

Prieth was located deceased in the bathroom, and used heroin bags and a syringe were located, along with Prieth’s cellphone. An autopsy revealed Prieth died from acute intoxication from heroin and fentanyl.

As part of their investigation, detectives with the Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force searched Prieth’s phone and located text messages that indicated he was buying drugs from one of his contacts, later identified through the investigation to be Campbell. Strike Force Detectives also learned that the drug transaction happened at the Trenton train station.

During their investigation, Strike Force Detectives conducted two controlled drug purchases from Campbell, and then, with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service and a fugitive task force in New Jersey, Campbell was arrested at the train station in December 2019.

He was found with 89 bags of heroin/fentanyl that was packaged for sale. Campbell was charged in Bucks County with several offenses, including drug delivery resulting in death.

However, following a Pennsylvania Supreme Court ruling the next year, the case was withdrawn because the crime of the drug delivery resulting in death did not occur in Pennsylvania.

A Detective with the Bucks County Drug Strike Force petitioned prosecuting agencies in New Jersey to take the case, and it was ultimately adopted by the New Jersey Attorney General’s office.

The case was investigated by the Bucks County Detectives Drug Strike Force, with assistance from Mercer County Narcotics Task Force/Special Investigations Unit and the U.S. Marshals Service.