$200, 2 grams, 1 life

Hamilton County sees first dealer convicted in overdose death

A Hamilton County jury has convicted a Noblesville man, Justin R. Yeary, of Dealing in a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death.

According to Hamilton County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Andre Miksha, Yeary was the first to be charged and convicted of the relatively new statute that provides police and prosecutors with an additional tool to combat the opioid crisis – charging drug dealers with the death of the person to whom they sold drugs.

Yeary

Yeary was arrested in April 2019 in connection with a drug transaction that took place in Noblesville in which he sold drugs to Tyler Humphrey, which resulted in Humphrey’s death.

The statute for Dealing in a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death was created during the 2018 legislative session and signed into law by the Governor Eric Holcomb.

Dealing in a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death is a Level 1 felony and is therefore the most serious drug offense in the Indiana Code. Most Level 1 felonies carry a possible sentence of between 20 and 40 years, with the advisory sentence being 30 years.

Prosecutors throughout Indiana have said charging dealers with the new statute sends a clear message that they will be held accountable.

Yeary’s sentencing is scheduled in Hamilton County Superior Court 1 on May 6.

Two other cases of Dealing in a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death are pending in Hamilton County.

Prosecution’s opening statement

Editor’s note: What follows is the opening statement made on March 8 to prospective jurors by Hamilton County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Andre Miksha in the case of Indiana v. Justin Ryan Yeary.

Miksha

Two hundred dollars. Two grams. One life.

In this trial you will learn that on a Friday afternoon about two years ago, the Defendant received a text message about buying two hundred dollars’ worth of the opiate heroin. The defendant had never met this other guy before that day; actually, their lives would cross only this once. The buyer, this other guy, was simply a friend of an acquaintance.

Around 5 p.m. at the Defendant’s home in Noblesville, the Defendant met with this other guy and gave him the drugs – two grams for two hundred dollars. The Defendant went on with his day and his life.

You will learn that Tyler Humphrey was the other guy. He went home with the two grams of what he thought was heroin. He hung out with his mom and his sister, watching TV with them that evening, but Tyler started using the drug and went up to his bedroom. Tyler was high and apparently continued to use the drug into the night. He was found dead the next day by his mother.

Tyler’s life ended in an overdose.

He had three substances in his system – his two prescription anxiety medications: alprazolam and escitalopram – more commonly known by their brand names of Xanax and Lexapro – and fentanyl, a synthetic opioid that is commonly substituted for the less-potent heroin. His anxiety medications did not kill him. Be it alone or in combination with Tyler’s prescriptions, the two grams of fentanyl that the Defendant gave Tyler for $200, killed Tyler; it ended his life.

The jury in this case will decide two charges against Mr. Yeary: Dealing in a Narcotic Drug and Dealing in a Controlled Substance Resulting in Death.

The elements in common to both offenses are that:

1. The Defendant, Justin Ryan Yeary
2. Knowingly or intentionally
3. Delivered
4. A narcotic drug or a controlled substance – heroin or fentanyl
5. And that, in the one charge, that the amount of the drug was more than one gram
6. And, in the other charge, when the drug is used, it caused the death of the person who used the drug.

Further, in the latter situation, it is neither a defense that the user who died had voluntarily used the drug nor that the user had also used other drugs at the same time.