Two charged in heroin death
By Nathan Mayberg
NEWTON — Two Sussex Borough men are facing potentially lengthy prison sentences for allegedly distributing heroin that killed a 22-year-old Wantage man in August.
Edward Bochinski Jr., 31, and Steven Smith, 29, were arrested on Friday in the case. They both were charged with first-degree strict liability for a drug induced death over heroin they allegedly distributed that caused the Wantage man to die of an overdose on Aug. 20.
The Sussex County Prosecutor's Office unveiled the charges as a new front on the county's ongoing problem with heroin.
Sussex County Prosecutor Francis Koch, who called heroin "an epidemic" in Sussex County, said this was the first time his office was using the law to charge a heroin distributor in a heroin overdose case since he joined the office in 1998. Koch said the law also can be used for other drugs which kill people.
"I don't necessarily think it's a new direction," Koch said by phone on Tuesday. "It's one of the tools in the toolbox."
Koch said prosecutors waited for a case in which the charge seemed appropriate.
"We will continue to do so in the future," he said.
Bochinski and Smith also are facing third-degree conspiracy charges related to the distribution of heroin.
"We're hoping to eradicate it," said Koch on heroin. His office has previously reported that it makes an average of one to two arrests per week on heroin charges.
Koch said his office's actions are meant to "save lives."
Bochinski and Smith face between 10 to 20 years on the first-degree strict liability charge alone, according to Assistant Prosecutor Seana Pappas.
They were both remanded to the Keogh-Dwyer Correctional Facility pending a future court date in lieu of $100,000 bail, with no 10 percent option. Neither Bochinski or Smith have criminal records, Pappas said.
According to state statistics, there were 433 Sussex County residents admitted to a substance abuse facility between January and August. Of those, 56 percent reported using heroin or other opiates.