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Alberto Delgado, 43, was accused of selling the fentanyl-laced crack that killed 54-year-old Luke Revell after he smoked it at the Winslow Motor Hotel just off eastbound Route 3.
Delgado had more than a pound and a half of the drugs in a storage unit when detectives from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office searched it, according to a complaint on file in Superior Court in Hackensack.
They also learned that Delgado had communicated with Revell by cell phone the day of the Nov. 11, 2023 noontime overdose, the complaint says.
Prosecutor Mark Musella said his detectives began investigating along with Lyndhurst police soon after. They got help from Garfield and Saddle Brook police, as well as the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, he noted.
“The investigation revealed that [Delgado] distributed a fatal dose of narcotics to the victim, causing his death,” Musella said.
The surge in overdoses and deaths has prosecutors throughout New Jersey holding drug dealers criminally liable. Bergen County has been a leader in that area.
Recent sentences have ranged from seven to 10 years for guilty pleas and significantly more for those defendants convicted at trial.
Authorities only have to prove that a dealer sold the fatal dose. They don't have to prove intent or even reckless disregard for life. It applies even if the victim is killed another way — say after being struck by a car — after ingesting the drugs.
It’s a challenging case for detectives because users ordinarily buy from different dealers.
Musella’s investigators prevailed, charging Delgado with first-degree strict liability in a drug-induced death and first-degree possession of cocaine for sale.
They also charged him with lesser-degree selling drugs in a school zone and near a park, selling cocaine and fentanyl, and possessing fentanyl for sale.
Delgado remained held in the Bergen County Jail on Wednesday, Feb. 28, following his arrest in Bloomfield last Friday.
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