DETROIT – Four men have been charged with distributing drugs that resulted in the overdose deaths of three people in metro Detroit, the U.S. attorney's office announced Friday.
The cases
Charged are Zachary R. Burdette, 29, of Ypsilanti, Roy Edward Brownlee, 49, of Ypsilanti, Kenyatta Akili McConico, 36, of Detroit, and Charlie Stevens, 24, of Beverly Hills.
Burdette was charged in a criminal complaint with distributing a deadly mix of heroin and fentanyl to a 27 year old Ypsilanti Township man who died on April 5. The man died of a heroin/fentanyl overdose, and he was found by his mother in his home with a syringe in his hand. Burdette had supplied the man with a tenth of a gram of heroin laced with fentanyl.
Brownlee was charged in a separate but related indictment. The indictment charged Brownlee with supplying the heroin/fentanyl mix to Burdette that was subsequently sold to the overdose victim. In addition, Brownlee is charged with possessing and supplying an assault rifle and a 9mm semi-automatic pistol.
Another indictment from a separate investigation charged McConico with distributing heroin that resulted in the March 19 overdose death of a 35-year-old woman from Redford Township.
A third indictment charged Stevens with distributing Vicodin pills to an 18-year-old man from Franklin. The man died of an overdose from the Vicodin on June 25, 2011, when he was discovered in his home by his family.
Burdette, Brownlee and McConico face up to life in prison and a $1 million fine because of their roles in the heroin overdose deaths. Stevens faces up to 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine for distributing Vicodin that resulted in death.
A rise in overdose deaths
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan said there is an ongoing epidemic of heroin and prescription pill abuse in the United States and in southeast Michigan. Heroin overdose deaths in the United States have tripled from 2010 to 2013. Since January 1, more than 60 people have died by overdose of heroin and fentanyl in Wayne and Washtenaw counties. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid pain medication that is 15 to 20 times more potent than heroin. The number of heroin overdose deaths in Oakland County doubled from 2013 to 2014.