Centreville Man Pleads Guilty To Selling Heroin That Killed Herndon Man

Image: Joseph Gaskins (FCPD)

A Centreville man pleaded guilty Thursday to seven counts of distributing heroin, including selling the substance to a 20-year-old Herndon man who died of an overdose.

Joseph Gaskins, 25, faces at least five years in prison and a fine of up to $500,000 for each charge, according to Virginia Attorney General Mark Herring. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 11.

“This case is a sad reminder of the danger posed by those who sell narcotics in our community,” Fairfax Commonwealth’s Raymond Attorney Morrogh said in a statement. “Our office will continue ... to vigorously prosecute those who distribute these deadly substances to our citizens.”

In a hearing in Fairfax Circuit Court, Gaskins admitted that he conspired with a Baltimore-area drug dealer between January 2014 and August 2014 to distribute heroin in Centreville. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute heroin, five counts of distribution of heroin, and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin.

On Jan. 6, 2014, Gaskins sold heroin to the Herndon man, who died the following day of a drug overdose, the statement said. On four other occasions, he sold heroin to confidential police informants, and investigators recovered heroin when they arrested him last year.

Gaskins was arrested as part of a drug investigation conducted by the Fairfax County Police Department, the Herndon Police Department and a Northern Virginia grand jury, according to the statement.