GOSHEN – An Orange County grand jury has indicted a 36-year-old Washingtonville man on charges that he sold fentanyl to a man causing his death.
District Attorney David Hoovler said Timothy Lempicki has been charged with manslaughter, criminally negligent homicide and criminal sale of a controlled substance.
“The New York State statutes are woefully inadequate for this type of crime, and most of the time, the most appropriate charge we are able to charge is the highest charge, criminal sale of a controlled substance, even though the individual sold the drugs that caused the death,” he said. “Here we were able to charge manslaughter in addition to the criminal sale of a controlled substance because the facts and circumstances indicated that the individual that sold the drugs knew that particular drug was dangerous at the time.”
The indictment alleges that on July 16, 2022, in the Village of Washingtonville, Lempicki sold fentanyl to the man who died.
The indictment alleges that at the time Lempicki sold the drug, he knew, and consciously disregarded, a substantial and unjustifiable risk that the drug might have a lethal effect on the person he sold it to.
Hoovler said this was the seventh case in the last 10 years that manslaughter charges were filed in a drug overdose case.
If convicted Lempicki could face 15 years in state prison.
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