Man Admits Role In Fentanyl Death Of Englishtown Woman

ENGLISHTOWN, NJ - A Trenton man admitted Wednesday to his role in conspiring to distribute fentanyl that caused the death of a Monmouth county woman, federal prosecutors said.

Quasaan Bethea, 33, pleaded guilty by videoconference before Chief U.S. District Judge Freda L. Wolfson on March 10 to an indictment charging possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

According to court documents, Bethea conspired with others to distribute fentanyl to a 39-year-old Monmouth County woman (referred to in the indictment as Victim-1) on May 15, 2018.

The victim sought out Bethea and others to purchase heroin - not fentanyl, a drug 25 to 50 times more potent than heroin. Bethea later admitted that the fentanyl he sold to the Monmouth County woman was packaged to look like heroin, according to prosecutors.

Shortly after the Monmouth County woman’s second purchase of fentanyl from Bethea and others, Englishtown police responded to a report of an overdose death. Upon their arrival, they discovered Victim-1, who had several wax folds of suspected heroin stamped “CAMEL” and empty wax folds stamped “CAMEL'' in her possession. A laboratory analysis of these wax folds bearing the “CAMEL” stamp determined the substance to be fentanyl, prosecutors said.

An autopsy of the victim found her cause of death to be acute fentanyl toxicity, court documents said.

The charge for conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $1 million penalty. Bethea is scheduled to be sentenced on July 26, 2021.