DA: Brockton man indicted after supplying fatal dose of fentanyl to Fall River man

BRIDGEWATER — While being held at Bridgewater State Hospital, a Brockton man traded what turned out to be a fatal dose of fentanyl to a fellow patient from Fall River, in return for bags of food and coffee from the canteen, according to the Plymouth County District Attorney's Office.

Kevin Malette, 35, of Brockton, was indicted on Friday by a Plymouth County grand jury on manslaughter and drug charges, for allegedly providing fentanyl and cocaine to a 51-year-old man from Fall River, Jeffrey Link, who died from an overdose, found not breathing and unresponsive in his locked cell by staff at Bridgewater State Hospital on Sept. 19 last year, the DA's office said.

Prosecutors from the office of Plymouth County District Attorney Timothy Cruz said an investigation of the the unattended death found that Malette supplied fentanyl and cocaine to Link on Sept. 18 and Sept. 19, before Link suffered a fatal overdose. According to a statement from Cruz's office, Malette exchanged the drugs in return for items from the canteen at the medium security facility, which houses men there on civil commitments without criminal sentences, along with pre-trial detainees sent for competency and criminal responsibility evaluations by the court.

"The investigation found that Link allegedly exchanged four bags of canteen items, including food and coffee, with a monetary value of more than $100, in return for narcotics," Cruz's office said. "The canteen, which is used as a form of currency in correctional institutions, ended up in the possession of Malette, who resided in another building at Bridgewater State Hospital."

State hospital staff saw Link suffering the overdose during a routine check at the state prison, finding him not breathing and unresponsive. Staff made entry into his locked cell and performed first aid, until paramedics from the Bridgewater Fire Department arrived. Link was transported to Morton Hospital in Taunton, where he was pronounced dead, the DA's office said.

In addition to manslaughter, Malette was charged and indicted with distribution of Class A drug (fentanyl), for a subsequent offense, distribution of a Class B drug (cocaine), for a subsequent offense, conspiracy to violate the controlled substance act, possession with intent to distribute a Class A drug (fentanyl), for a subsequent offense, possession with intent to distribute a Class B drug (cocaine), for a subsequent offense, and possessing or delivering drugs or articles to prisoners in a correctional institute or jail.

Malette is now being held at the Bristol County House of Corrections, Cruz's office said. Malette will be arraigned on the charges at a later date, Cruz's office said.

In 2018, a Wareham man named Steven D. Foss became the first alleged drug dealer to be convicted of manslaughter over an overdose death in Plymouth County, after detectives said he supplied the fatal batch of heroin and a jury agreed with prosecutors that this amounted to homicide. Prosecutors said Foss sold heroin to 25-year-old Paige M. Lopes, leading her to suffer a fatal overdose Feb. 21, 2015, outside her Wareham home. The medical examiner determined Lopes died of acute heroin intoxication.

Foss was also found guilty of five counts of illegal distribution of a Class A drug (heroin) and one count each of illegal possession with intent to distribute a Class D drug (heroin) and intimidation of a witness.

Foss, 36 years old when he was convicted of involuntary manslaughter, was sentenced to serve six to eight years in MCI-Cedar Junction in Walpole on the manslaughter charge, along with concurrent time for the drug charges, with three years of probation after that.