Feb 6, 2017 2 min read

A Washington man was arraigned Monday on charges of drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver heroin that contained fentanyl in the death of a 28-year-old woman at a Canton Township motel last summer.

Robert William Welsh, III, 35, of 1300 Allison Ave., is accused of providing the drug to the boyfriend of Sarah Adessa Wilson of Clearfield, Clearfield County, who later died after ingesting it. It is believed it was first time Wilson had used heroin.

Wilson’s boyfriend told state Trooper Thomas Kress the couple had gone to a bar across from their Sheffield Street motel on July 31. A man came into the bar and identified himself as “Bob” or “Bobby.” The boyfriend told him that they were looking for meth or cocaine. Welsh reportedly told him that he only dealt in heroin and gave the boyfriend two stamp bags of heroin to try.

The boyfriend asked if two bags was enough for both of them and reportedly told Welsh that he had never used heroin and believed his girlfriend had never used it. Welsh allegedly told him to snort it.

Wilson and her boyfriend left the bar and returned to the motel, where they each reportedly snorted one bag. He found Wilson dead the next morning. An autopsy determined Wilson’s cause of death was a combined drug toxicity of heroin, fentanyl and alcohol.

The boyfriend identified Welsh through a photo line-up. Cellphone numbers for Welsh and the boyfriend were also found in their respective phones.

“This arrest is an important part of working to eliminate the threat of heroin and fentanyl in our communities,” said Washington County District Attorney Eugene Vittone in a statement Monday. “We will continue to work with our police as they investigate overdoses and deaths. When we link a dealer to an overdose or a death, we will prosecute them.”

Welsh has been in Washington County jail since Sept. 15 on a probation warrant. While serving the warrant, Washington County sheriff’s deputies found heroin in his home and charged him with possession and possession with intent to deliver. He is scheduled for a pretrial conference on March 3 before Judge Michael J. Lucas. He was arraigned on the new charges via video by District Judge David Mark, who set bond at $500,000. A preliminary hearing is set before Mark on Feb. 15.