Morris Plains man sentenced to 7 years in prison for 2023 drug overdose death

A Morris Plains man was sentenced Friday to seven years in prison for selling fentanyl-laced drugs to a Hanover man who died of an overdose in 2023, officials said.

Anthony Dello-Russo, 28, will have to serve roughly four years and three months before he is eligible for release on parole, which aligns with a plea deal offered by prosecutors when he admitted guilt during a June hearing in state Superior Court in Morristown. Dello-Russo pleaded guilty to first-degree strict liability for drug-induced death and second-degree possession of cocaine.

The 28-year-old man went to Dello-Russo's then-home in Whippany the evening of Feb. 14, 2023 and bought cocaine, Dello-Russo admitted on June 5 before Judge Ralph Amirata. The man went straight home, roughly 2 to 3 miles away, and was found dead by his mom the following day, Peter Gilbreth, Dello-Russo's attorney said at the time.

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An autopsy report confirmed the man died of a drug overdose and it was "clear" it was from the fentanyl-laced cocaine Dello-Russo sold him, Gilbreth had said. Cellphone records also showed the men were texting before the drug deal, he said.

Prosecutors agreed to drop the first-degree charge to a second-degree for sentencing purposes. Dello-Russo was facing a total maximum sentencing exposure of up to 30 years.

To charge someone with a crime of strict liability drug-induced death, prosecutors have to prove that the drug that caused the death was sold by an individual and that it led to the death of another. State statute does not require the charge to include the intention of death.

Email: lcomstock@njherald.com ; Twitter: @LoriComstockNJH or on Facebook .

This article originally appeared on New Jersey Herald: Morris Plains man sentenced to 7 years in prison for 2023 drug overdose death