BURLINGTON COUNTY, N.J. (KYW Newsradio) — Burlington County authorities have filed charges against an alleged drug dealer they said supplied a fatal dose of fentanyl to a teenager.
19-year-old Zachary DiBattista of Cinnaminson Township, New Jersey was arrested this week and charged with strict liability for drug-induced death, after prosecutors said he sold pills to 18-year-old high school student Max Mather of Medford Township. Mather died in his bedroom from an overdose last March.
The pair allegedly arranged a meeting for the sale on Snapchat. Mather thought he was buying OxyContin, but instead got pills containing fentanyl and other drugs not approved for human consumption.
Burlington County prosecutor Scott Coffina said these counterfeit pills are looking more and more authentic, which makes them that much more deadly.
"[Mather] presumably thought he was taking a prescription drug that would not harm him, and it is nearly impossible for the untrained eye to distinguish a ‘real’ OxyContin pill from a counterfeit one," said Coffina.
DiBatttista is currently being held in Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly, awaiting a detention hearing in Superior Court.
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