Man faces year in prison for discarding overdose victim's cell phone

2/13/2018
BLADE STAFF

A former Oregon man charged in connection with a friend’s overdose death pleaded no contest Tuesday to obstructing justice for getting rid of the victim's cell phone.

John Carter, 29, who now lives in Chicago, faces up to a year in prison when he is sentenced April 10 by Lucas County Common Pleas Judge Ian English, who accepted his plea and found him guilty.

Jennifer Liptack-Wilson, an assistant county prosecutor, told the court Carter was talking July 18 with his friend, Andrew Bochi, on Facebook Messenger while Mr. Bochi was en route to Carter's North Eastmoreland Drive home.

At Carter's home, she said, Mr. Bochi overdosed on heroin laced with fentanyl, and Carter took him to Mercy St. Charles Hospital where he died. Investigators searched Mr. Bochi's clothing and car and Carter's home but were unable to locate the victim's cell phone, from which they hoped to find evidence of who supplied the heroin, Ms. Liptack-Wilson said.

As part of a plea agreement, charges of corrupting another with drugs and tampering with evidence are to be dismissed at sentencing.