The last of five codefendants arrested on drug charges after a Farmington woman’s overdose death pleaded guilty Friday in Franklin County Superior Court.
Eric Barnes, 28, of Skowhegan, pleaded guilty to furnishing morphine that the woman, Marylin Rider, 52, overdosed on at her boyfriend’s birthday party last November, according to the Franklin County District Attorney’s Office.
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Justice Michaela Murphy in Franklin County Superior Court approved the deal of a two-year sentencing cap for the crime. Furnishing scheduled drugs is a Class C crime and otherwise punishable by up to five years in prison.
Barnes and three others charged in the case are scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 14.
Roy Gordon, 42, Seth Gordon, 23, and Terry Oliver, 54, all pleaded guilty previously in exchange for a two-year sentencing cap.
The fifth person charged in the case, Scott Kidder, 32, was sentenced to two years of probation, which he will serve after finishing a two-year prison sentence for a probation violation for a prior conviction.
According court documents, Rider’s neighbors reported hearing Roy Gordon, Rider’s boyfriend, yelling for her to wake up early Nov. 11.
Roy Gordon called his parents’ house and asked them to come over. His mother called 911 after she arrived at the apartment. Barnes, Roy Gordon, Gordon’s mother and Rider’s 11-year-old son were all at the house when police and an ambulance arrived, according to the affidavit.
According the affidavit, Barnes and Roy Gordon put several needles into a box and removed it before emergency responders came to the apartment.
The day before, Rider had injected morphine during a birthday party for Roy Gordon at his parents’ house in Wilton, according to the affidavit.
Kaitlin Schroeder can be contacted at 861-9252 or at kschroeder@centralmaine.com
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