On Wednesday, November 15th, Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin R. Steele and Plymouth Township Police Chief Joseph F. Lawrence announced the arrest of Adam Paravati, 37, of Norristown, on the criminal homicide charge of Drug Delivery Resulting in Death in the September 18th, overdose death of Gregory Poper, 39, of Plymouth Meeting.
Plymouth Township Police arrived at 8:37 p.m., Monday, September 18th to a residence on Red Rowen Lane to find a deceased male, identified as Mr. Poper, lying on a master bathroom floor. Also found in close proximity to the deceased were 11 blue paper bags commonly used for packaging heroin—five of which contained a solid white powder and six that contained residue of white powder. The ensuing investigation by Plymouth Township Police and the Montgomery County Detective Bureau revealed that the defendant delivered the purported heroin to Mr. Poper by placing it in his vehicle, parked in the driveway. The drug buy and delivery from Pavarati were arranged by text message beforehand.
On September 19th, detectives arranged for Paravati to deliver more drugs to Mr. Poper by placing them in his vehicle. When the defendant deposited the heroin packets in the vehicle, detectives arrested him. Fourteen blue paper bags containing a white powdery substance were found in Paravati’s vehicle or on his person.
National Medical Services laboratory tested the bags found by Mr. Poper’s body and determined they were fentanyl analogs, a synthetic opioid that is 40 to 50 times stronger than street-level heroin. The lab also tested the material in the bags found in the defendant’s possession and found them to be fentanyl.
An autopsy by the Montgomery County Coroner’s Office determined that the cause of Mr. Poper’s death was drug intoxication caused by fentanyl, 3-methylfananyl, heroin, amphetamine and methadone. Forensic Pathologist Dr. Khalil S. Wardak opined that the drug intoxication was responsible for his death.
Paravati is charged with Drug Delivery Resulting in Death, which is a felony criminal homicide charge that could result in a sentence of up to 40 years—a similar penalty to third-degree murder—as well as Possession with Intent to Deliver, Criminal Use of a Communication Facility, Recklessly Endangering Another Person and other charges.
“Gregory Poper died from being poisoned. Dealers delivering poison right to the doors of Montgomery County residents, preying upon those suffering from the disease of addiction, should think twice about coming over our borders,” said Steele. “I’ll say it again: if you deal drugs like pills, heroin or fentanyl and we can prove that the drugs you sold caused someone’s death, you will be charged with homicide—Drug Delivery Resulting in Death. This is our eighth arrest for this charge in 2017, and more arrests are in the works. Our law enforcement agencies are committed to stemming the tide of the pain, suffering, addiction and death that those who traffic poison are raining down on our communities.”
Paravati was arraigned today before Magisterial District Judge Francis J. Bernhardt III, who set bail at $500,000 cash. The defendant was unable to post bail and was remanded to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility. A preliminary hearing is set for 9:30 a.m., November 30th, before Judge Bernhardt.
Photo: Plymouth Township Police Department