Four charged in fatal Sugar Grove heroin overdose
Four people have been charged with drug-induced homicide for providing fentanyl-laced heroin to a 21-year-old Sugar Grove Township woman who died in February of an overdose, prosecutors said.
Johnny L. Williams, 56, and Eric P. Anthony, 21, both of St. Charles, and Neal R. Crowder, 26, and Joseph Tortorella, 26, both of Batavia, appeared Friday in Kane County bond court, prosecutors said.
Each is charged with felony drug-induced homicide in the death of Ashley M. Mastel, who died at her residence after using the heroin, which authorities say also contained fentanyl, an opioid pain medication that frequently is added to heroin as a cutting agent.
Prosecutors say the four men provided the drugs to Mastel on Feb. 20 and that she was found dead the next day. If convicted, each faces a sentence of six to 30 years in prison. Probation is not an option.
Williams, of the 1200 block of Indiana Avenue, was being held at the Kane County jail on $150,000 bail and is next due in court March 31.
Crowder, of the 1400 block of Fagan Court, was being held on $100,000 bail and is next due in court March 24.
Bail for Tortorella, of the 1500 block of Haines Drive, was set at $20,000, and his next court date is April 7.
Bail for Anthony, of the 3500 block of Voltaire Lane, is $50,000, and he's due in court April 6.
The Kane County sheriff's office and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigated Mastel's death.