Man faces felony charges after investigation into fatal overdose in Ferguson Township
A Huntingdon County man was accused Thursday of supplying the potent opioids that killed a woman at a Ferguson Township motel.
Jeremy Brooks, 39, was accused by Ferguson Township police of intentionally selling the fentanyl and methamphetamine that killed State College woman Donnee Gordon in August.
At least two people told a detective they saw Brooks sell the drugs to Gordon, police wrote in an affidavit of probable cause. One estimated Brooks sold her “a couple hundred dollars worth.”
Officers pored over Facebook messages and phone records during the monthslong investigation. The data showed Brooks traveled to the State College area and then returned home about the time Gordon died, police wrote.
Gordon, 33, died of a multidrug overdose, the Centre County Coroner’s Office said. Her death was ruled accidental.
A defense lawyer was not listed.
Brooks was charged with three felony counts of prohibited possession of a firearm, two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver, one felony count each of drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility and carrying a firearm without a license. He was also charged with one misdemeanor count of recklessly endangering another person.
He was arraigned Thursday by District Judge Casey McClain, who denied bail. Brooks is detained at the Centre County Correctional Facility.
His preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 19.
Prosecutors in Pennsylvania have significantly increased their use of drug delivery resulting in death charges.
The number increased nearly every year over the past decade. Just 15 people were charged statewide in 2013, a figure that increased to 272 in 2018, according to data from the Administrative Offices of Pennsylvania Courts.
The charge was filed 12 times between 2014 and 2019 in Centre County.
This story was originally published May 6, 2021 at 3:07 PM.