Raleigh – The General Assembly passed – and Gov. Roy Cooper recently signed into law – Senate Bill 189, “Fentanyl Drug Offense and Related Changes.”
The bill revises North Carolina’s Death by Distribution law, as well as fentanyl crimes. The legislation defines a controlled substance as any form (synthetic or natural) of opium or opiate, cocaine, methamphetamine, depressant, fentanyl or any combination of these substances.
Changes to the law will go into effect on Dec. 1.
The bill increases the penalties for the Death by Distribution law if a person delivers a controlled substance and the user dies from the substance. With the new law, the punishment for death by distribution is a class C felony, which carries automatic prison time.
Higher penalties apply in situations where the person acts with malice or has a previous conviction for a controlled substance violation. The revised law adds that proof of sale to the victim is no longer required to be proven, in order to hold a person responsible for killing someone by giving them controlled substances.
The bill also expands the “Good Samaritan” law, an immunity from prosecution for a person in possession of less than one gram of a controlled substance who is seeking medical attention for someone suffering from an overdose. The Good Samaritan law’s purpose is to help someone who is overdosing – even if they are in possession of controlled substances.
The District of Columbia and 47 states have Good Samaritan laws.
Local charges
Graham County has a history of two death by distribution charges filed.
The first case involves Bobby Huel Pastell and his wife, Danielle Nichole Pastell, both Robbinsville residents who were implicated in the drug overdose of 30-year-old Casey Allen Phillips on March 24, 2021.
Bobby was also arrested on Feb. 12, 2022 for possession of methamphetamine. His bail is $300,000, cash only. If bailed, he will be on electronically-monitored house arrest, both for his safety and the community’s.
Danielle was present in the home when the drugs were given to Phillips. Authorities believe Bobby is the primary suspect in the case.
Danielle was in custody in May 2021, not able to make the $150,000 secured bond. Her lawyer said the bond was completely unattainable, stating the figure “might as well be a million dollars.”
Judge William Coward changed her bond requirement to $150,000, unsecured.
Danielle is no longer in custody. The requirements of her bail is to have a job, abstain from illegal drugs, stay away from known drugs users (including her husband), stay away from the victim’s family and live with her mother, who has been caring for her children.
Coward said Danielle does not appear to be a danger to the public or the integrity of the case.
Bobby’s prison record started in June 2011, when he was arrested on a felony charge of drug possession. He was convicted in January 2013 and his sentence was suspended, but the suspension was revoked that summer and he spent two months in jail. He was also in jail for one month on the same charge that winter, according to state prison records.
Danielle has not been charged since her arrest in connection with Phillips’ death. She does not have a prison record. Bobby and Danielle’s trial is set for Monday, Nov. 6.
The second case involves 52-year-old Zada Louise Lail, who was arrested on a true bill of indictment for a death by distribution charge in the case of 33-year-old Dalton Varnel Anderson’s March 31, 2022 death.
Anderson overdosed on 19 nanograms of fentanyl and methamphetamine; 0.5 is considered fatal.
Arrested May 18, Lail is in custody on a $150,000 bond. Her admin session is set for Oct. 25.