Accused fentanyl dealer on bail faces manslaughter charge after victim overdoses
A man who was out on bail conditions is now facing a manslaughter charge. He’s accused of selling drugs to someone who later died from a fentanyl overdose.
A man who was out on bail conditions is now facing a manslaughter charge. He’s accused of selling drugs to someone who later died from a fentanyl overdose.
According to York Regional Police, the charges stem from an incident last fall when York officers responded to a call about a male without vital signs in Vaughan’s Bathurst Street and Ner Israel Drive area.
He was pronounced dead at the scene.
His death was later ruled an accidental overdose by the coroner.
Following an investigation and search warrant, police identified and arrested a suspect believed responsible for selling the deadly drugs to the male.
On Aug. 21, officers arrested Farzam Jafari Roudsari, 29, and charged him with manslaughter and various drug-related offences.
Roudsari, who police say was already out on conditions for other offences, faces one count of manslaughter, six counts of trafficking, five counts of possession for the purpose of trafficking a Schedule I substance, five counts of possession of proceeds of crime under $5,000 and two counts of breach of probation.
While still uncommon, manslaughter charges against drug dealers involved in overdose deaths are not entirely new.
In December 2018, an Innisfil, Ont., man, 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2017 overdose death of a 23-year-old man.
Jordan Lane sold the victim heroin laced with fentanyl, which caused the fatal overdose.
He was sentenced to time served, approximately 15 months in pre-trial custody.