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Anthony M. Kopiecki and Molly R. Campbell, both 29 and from Brooklyn, are charged with strict liability for a drug-induced death, among other offenses, Acting Bergen County Prosecutor Dennis Calo said Wednesday.
The victim was taken to Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern, where he was pronounced dead, after the May 7 overdose last year at a private residence in Mahwah, Calo said.
“An autopsy conducted by the Rockland County Medical Examiner’s Office revealed that the victim died of acute cardiorespiratory failure due to MDMA (‘Molly’) intoxication,” he said.
Detectives from Calo’s office and Mahwah police found that Campbell and Kopiecki made and sold the MDMA pills to the victim, the prosecutor said.
Authorities originally arrested the pair on drug possession charges in Jersey City the next day. Both were released pending further court action.
Calo’s office presented the case to a grand jury, which returned an indictment last Thursday charging the pair with strict liability for a drug-induced death, Operating a drug-manufacturing facility and various conspiracy counts.
Kopiecki was taken into custody on Monday. Campbell “currently working outside of the United States and, upon her return, will surrender to face the same charge,” Calo said.
Under state law, someone who sells illegal drugs that kills the user can be charged with his or her death. Anyone convicted of the offense can be sentenced to from 10 to 20 years in state prison. A plea bargain could produce a lesser term, however.
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