State police have charged a Mt. Pleasant man with selling a fatal blend of heroin and fentanyl.
Ricky Fosbrink, 34, allegedly sold the drugs that killed Christopher Phillip Biller, 35, on Jan. 22, 2017. Biller was found dead in a friend’s apartment, according to court papers. Investigators found a syringe of suspected heroin and numerous stamp bags marked in blue ink with the names “FOCUS” and “RUSSIA.”
An autopsy confirmed Biller died of an overdose of heroin and fentanyl.
Investigators searched Biller’s phone, noting that Biller recently had texted an acquaintance to ask where to buy heroin, and the acquaintance referred him to Fosbrink, according to court documents.
The next day, troopers searched Fosbrink’s residence, finding several stamp bags of heroin in a kitchen garbage bag, police reported. The bags had the same markings as the ones found where Biller died.
Police questioned Fosbrink, who admitted that he gave Biller seven stamp bags for $30 and five Percoset pills.
Despite the confession, investigators waited nearly two years to charge Fosbrink. They needed time to get detailed lab results, state police spokesman Steve Limani said.
“We had to make sure that the drugs found in the victim’s body were the exact same drugs that were found at the victim’s house,” Limani said.
Tests confirmed that the drugs were the sole cause of death, Limani said.
Fosbrink is charged with drug delivery resulting in death, manufacture, delivery or possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance.
He is being held in the Westmoreland County Jail on $100,000 cash bail. A preliminary hearing before District Judge Roger Eckels is scheduled for Jan. 24.
Jacob Tierney is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jacob at 724-836-6646, jtierney@tribweb.com or via Twitter @Soolseem.
