A 38-year-old former Bucks County man is facing felony and misdemeanor charges for allegedly selling fentanyl-laced cocaine to a friend who then fatally overdosed in 2022.
Bucks County Detectives alleged that Kutztown resident William R. Wright is a known drug dealer in the area and he sold Steven Newhart, 62, the drugs that killed him. Wright was arraigned on charges including drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter and related offenses on June 18, the day before the two-year anniversary of Newhart’s death, records show.
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His arrest followed a two-year investigation initiated by Springfield Township police the day after Father's Day, when officers responded to a report of a possibly deceased man in a Hellertown apartment.
When officers arrived at the 2000 block of Scenic View Lane they found Newhart dead in a bathroom, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Newhart’s children said they last spoke to him between 8 and 9 p.m. the previous night. and disclosed their father abused drugs and alcohol, police said.
An autopsy determined Newhart died an accidental death as a result of a combination of drugs including cocaine and fentanyl. A daughter identified Wright as a suspect, sharing text messages and other information with police.
Among the messages was one that it appeared Wright sent implying the cocaine he was selling contained no fentanyl, the affidavit said. “He would’ve never touched that stuff knowing it has something in it that would kill him,” the daughter told police, according to the affidavit.
A witness told police that Newhart visited Wright’s apartments multiple times including on June 18, 2022, police said. Wright was described as a “known drug dealer” in the area who worked in a warehouse in Bethlehem in court documents.
Police obtained Newhart’s cell phone and performed a forensic analysis that showed numerous messages that appeared to be drug-related between him and a cell phone number associated with Wright starting in 2021, the affidavit said.
Earlier this year, Bucks County Detectives obtained a search warrant for Wright’s cell phone and found a screenshot of a text thread dated June 21, 2022, which depicted a partial conversation with Newhart that started shortly after 10 p.m. on June 19, 2022.
Investigators found no text messages between the two men on Wright's phone. They believe Wright deleted the messages, but took a screenshot of the one message as a “memento” of his last conversation with Newhart, the affidavit said.
A forensic examination of Wright’s cell phone found more than 150,000 instant messages which authorities believe referenced illegal drugs he was selling.
Wright is currently incarcerated in Bucks County Correctional Center in lieu of $750,000 bail.
Reporter Jo Ciavaglia can be reached at jciavaglia@gannett.com
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