Westport man indicted in drug deal that led to fatal overdose

NEWPORT — The first person charged under Kristen’s Law following the overdose death of a Newport man has been indicted.

The Newport County Grand Jury returned an indictment Friday charging Cary Pacheco, 54, of Westport, Massachusetts, with one count of delivering a controlled substance (fentanyl), death resulting; one county of delivering a controlled substance (fentanyl); one count of delivering a controlled substance (tramadol); and one count of conspiracy.

It should be noted an indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation.

The alleged acts occurred in the city of Newport sometime between September 10, 2018 and November 29, 2018. The Newport Police Department conducted the investigation.

Pacheco is the first person to be charged under Kristen’s Law, The Daily News previously reported. Kristen’s Law, signed into law in Rhode Island in 2018, allows for life sentences for people who sell illegal drugs that result in fatal overdoses.

Pacheco was initially charged with controlled-substance delivery resulting in death after a 29-year-old Newport resident died of an overdose in September. Police said Pacheco provided fentanyl to Andrew Paiva, who died at Newport Hospital after being found at the shelter at 15 Meeting St. suffering from a drug overdose, The Daily News previously reported.

On Sept. 10, Newport police were called to 15 Meeting St. for a report of an overdose. Six bags of fentanyl were with Paiva when police arrived. He was treated and transferred to Newport Hospital, where he was pronounced dead the following day.

The Newport Police Special Crimes Unit investigated the death and, with the help of a witness who was with Paiva at the time, determined Paiva had purchased the drug from Pacheco in a parking lot in Portsmouth on Sept. 10, police said.

The witness, along with an undercover Newport police detective, arranged to buy 20 bags of fentanyl from Pacheco for $115 on Nov. 29, 2018.

Another man, 49-year-old Michael Vandenburgh of Durfee Street in Fall River, Massachusetts, made the actual transaction at the direction of Pacheco, police said. After the transaction was complete, Pacheco and Vandenburgh were arrested. During a search, 61 more bags of fentanyl were found on Pacheco, police said.

Pacheco is currently being held without bail at the Adult Correctional Institute and is scheduled to be arraigned on March 14, 2019 in Newport County Superior Court.