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NORRISTOWN — A Souderton woman must report to jail next month after she admitted to conspiring with a Pottstown man in the delivery of fentanyl to a woman in West Pottsgrove, an investigation that began following the buyer’s death from an overdose in Exeter Township, Berks County.
Heather Ann Walker, 41, of the unit block of Sheffield Way, was sentenced in Montgomery County Court to 11½ to 23 months in the county jail after she pleaded guilty to a felony charge of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance in connection with a December 2021 incident.
Judge Thomas M. DelRicci ordered Walker to report to the county jail in Lower Providence on Nov. 10 to begin serving the sentence. The judge said Walker is not eligible for work release but can be made eligible for house arrest after serving seven months in the jail.
Walker also must complete three years of probation consecutive to parole, meaning she will be under court supervision for about five years.
Walker’s co-defendant, David Michael Hogan Jr., 40, of Pottstown, previously was sentenced to 16 to 40 months in a state correctional facility after he pleaded guilty to the charge of possession with intent to deliver fentanyl.
“If it hadn’t been for the co-defendant she would have never been involved,” defense lawyer Sharon Meisler said on behalf of Walker, who was Hogan’s girlfriend at the time. “She was definitely influenced by him to do this. But for his influence she would not be here.”
Meisler said Walker has turned her life around and sought drug treatment and employment.
“I hope she keeps doing everything she’s doing. She is doing absolutely great,” Meisler said.
Walker and Hogan were not charged with drug delivery resulting in death during the investigation.
According to a criminal complaint filed by state police at Reading, an investigation began on Dec. 6, 2021, when Exeter police investigated the overdose death of a woman at a location where two clear bags of drugs stamped “Jokers Wild” were found near the deceased. Toxicology tests uncovered small amounts of the drugs fentanyl and xylazine in the woman’s bloodstream, according to the criminal complaint filed by state police Corporal Anthony Garipoli.
Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times more powerful than morphine and it is often present in opioid overdose deaths, according to authorities. Xylazine is a powerful drug used by veterinarians for sedation of cattle and horses and is often used as a cutting agent by drug dealers.
Exeter detectives conducted a forensic extraction of information from the deceased woman’s phone and found text messages from Oct. 5 between the deceased and Walker during which the deceased asked Walker to get her heroin, according to the arrest affidavit. Authorities alleged the conversation led to an agreement whereby Walker would get the woman three bags of heroin for $10 cash and $100 in food stamps, police alleged.
At 5:31 p.m. on Dec. 5, Walker requested that the buyer meet her outside a business in the 1600 block of West High Street in West Pottsgrove. At 5:41 p.m. the buyer advised Walker she was at the location and at 5:48 p.m. Walker texted that “Dave is coming,” referring to Hogan, her boyfriend, police alleged.
On Dec. 6, at 3:48 p.m., Walker sent a text to the buyer asking her, “Hey how did u make out with that stuff,” police alleged. There was no response due to the buyer being deceased, police said.
State police said tests for touch DNA on the bags found at the scene of the overdose resulted in a “hit” for Hogan’s DNA.
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