Vineland, NJ, Man Sentenced For Drug-Induced Death of Teen in 2020

A man from Vineland has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for the drug-induced death of a teen in 2020.

On Monday, 44-year-old Freddie W. Smith was sentenced in Atlantic County Superior Court to 12 years behind bars on a charge of first-degree strict liability.

According to the New Jersey State Police, an investigation revealed that the teen had gone to a Wawa in Vineland at some point during the evening of March 11th into March 12th, 2020.

In the parking lot, Smith sold the drugs containing fentanyl to the decedent, who was found dead in the early morning hours on a couch in his family home.

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Toxicology testing of the decedent’s blood determined he died from fentanyl and cocaine, and a search warrant was later executed on Smith’s home where law enforcement recovered drug packaging paraphernalia, fentanyl, and cocaine.

In addition to the prison term, of which Smith must serve at least 10 years before becoming eligible for parole, he was also sentenced to five years of supervision upon his release.