Nikki Lee Smith, a man already serving time in prison, is facing serious charges after being accused of selling drugs to a man who died of a fentanyl overdose. Smith has been charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death, felony drug delivery, and misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter and is currently being held on $200,000 bail.
On December 13th, Pennsylvania State Police responded to a report of a deceased man in Greene Township. The victim was found dead in the back bedroom, and an autopsy determined that he had died from a mixture of fentanyl and morphine.
Police found text messages on the victim’s phone to someone named “Nik” regarding the sale of “raw” drugs, and traced the phone number back to Smith. The victim was wearing a GPS monitor from State Parole at the time of his death, which allowed police to determine that he had been in the area near Smith’s residence.
During questioning, Smith admitted to selling drugs to the victim’s brother, who was allegedly in the vehicle during the sale, which occurred at Smith’s home the day before the victim’s death. Police noted that the victim’s brother couldn’t have been at the drug sale because he was incarcerated at the time.
Further examination of the victim’s text messages revealed that he had contacted another person before the sale. This person was interviewed and claimed that their girlfriend had picked up the victim and driven him to the Rite Aid near Smith’s home. The witness said that they did not see who the victim was meeting but drove him home afterward.
During a second interview with Smith, he allegedly made a phone call from the Franklin County Jail where he was being held, telling his girlfriend that the police had questioned him about the victim’s death and that he had denied any involvement.
Smith’s preliminary hearing is scheduled for March 14th. He remains behind bars on $200,000 bail.
