A Nashport man received a prison sentence Wednesday morning for contributing to a Zanesville man’s fatal overdose this past summer.
The Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office announced Joshua O’Neil was sentenced to eight mandatory years after pleading guilty to one first-degree felony count of involuntary manslaughter, one second-degree felony count of corrupting another with drugs and one fourth and one fifth-degree felony count of trafficking drugs.
On Aug. 11, deputies from the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office were called to a home on National Road after a mother found her 30-year-old son, Dalton Cole, dead in his attic bedroom.
After reviewing messages on Cole’s Facebook account, Detective Brady Hittle learned that Cole made drug arrangements with O’Neil.
O’Neil admitted to Det. Hittle that he sold Cole methamphetamine. Results of Cole’s autopsy showed he tested positive for methamphetamine, amphetamine and fentanyl.
In the past year, the Muskingum County Prosecutor’s Office has prosecuted six drug overdose death cases.
