Woman found guilty of selling drugs that caused overdose death

Mar. 12—MERCER — A 12-person jury Thursday found a Youngstown woman guilty of selling drugs that resulted in the fatal June 2019 overdose of a 32-year-old Coolspring Township woman.

Nicoletta Michelle Robinson, 34, was found guilty on all charges in the death of Margaret McConnell, including drug delivery resulting in death, aggravated assault, criminal use of a communication facility, possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, assault, and reckless endangerment. Following the three-day trial in Mercer County Common Pleas Court, jury members deliberated for 30 minutes before announcing their verdict at about 6:30 p.m.

State police said Robinson sold methadone, a powerful prescription painkiller, to McConnell on June 17, 2019. McConnell was found dead in her home June 23.

Often prescribed to treat an addiction to opioids, including heroin, methadone is addictive, dangerous, and illegal when used without a doctor's prescription.

The commonwealth's expert witness, Dr. Eric Vey, an Erie County forensic pathologist, ruled McConnell's cause of death to be methadone overdose.

Defense testimony, however, shed doubts on the cause of death and argued McConnell had left a hospital against the doctor's recommendation on the day she died. Medical records indicated, according to testimony, a doctor said she could die if she left the hospital.

Defense Attorney Stanley T. Booker said he plans to appeal.

"We still stand by her innocence," Booker said. "We don't believe for a second that methadone killed (McConnell); there were a lot of other reasons."

If Robinson's sentence runs consecutively on all counts, she faces 25 1/2 to 51 years in state prison. She faces 10 to 20 years alone on the first-degree felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death.

Over the last five years, an increasing number of states have imposed homicide-related charges, including manslaughter and even second-degree murder, in fatal drug overdose cases. Such charges in accidental deaths have greatly stiffened drug sentences.

Sentencing will take place May 7 at 9 a.m.

"We're ... asking for consecutive sentences for a long time in the state correctional system," Mercer County District Attorney Peter C. Acker said. "If this judge is unwilling to do that, we're going to appeal him to the Superior Court."

Mercer County Common Pleas Judge Tedd C. Nesbit ordered Robinson on house arrest, after denying a motion by the commonwealth to revoke her bond.

Acker blasted the judge's decision.

"She's convicted of delivering a fatal dose to a woman who died as a result of this defendant's efforts to make money from peddling death," he said.

In his closing argument, Booker said the commonwealth determined McConnell overdosed because of her history of drug use. He noted, however, she also suffered from Crohn's disease, an inflammatory bowel disease.

"There are holes in the commonwealth's case," he told the jury.

Citing testimony by Dr. David Alexander Johnson, an expert in pharmacology and toxicology, Booker argued the methadone level in McConnell's body would have increased during the six days before her body was found. Even so, McConnell's body showed a methadone level at the lower end of the range for a fatal overdose. The fatal range is considered to be 400 to 1800 nanograms. McConnell's level was 490.

Moreover, Johnson argued lab results showed McConnell had a high tolerance for drugs.

In closing remarks, Assistant District Attorney Shane Crevar told jury members McConnell called Diva Service LLC, a Youngstown-based taxi service, and had Robinson, the owner of the taxi service, drive her around on June 16 and 17, 2019, days before her death.

Robinson drove McConnell to and from hospitals. Surveillance footage showed them inside the Hermitage Circle K convenience store.

McConnell did not appear to be in pain, Crevar said, and bought a lot of junk food, suggesting her stomach was OK.

A symptom of Crohn's disease is an upset stomach.

While staying at her father's home, the victim, without permission, wrote two of her father's checks for drugs and rides, Crevar said.

A series of text messages detailed a drug deal between Robinson and McConnell. Crevar said McConnell also Googled methadone to learn how much to take and possible side effects.

Follow Melissa Klaric on Twitter and Facebook @HeraldKlaric, email: mklaric@sharonherald.com

Updated to full story at 10:18 p.m. March 11, 2020