Man indicted with selling fentanyl that led to near-fatal overdose | Courts Cops

ALTON — A local man who allegedly helped a friend to buy fentanyl just after being discharged from a drug rehabilitation and who then overdosed on the drug hours later has been indicted on multiple charges.

The latest session of the Belknap County grand jury indicted Jason Malo, 22, of Stockbridge Corner Road in Alton, on charges of conspiracy to sell a controlled drug, sale of fentanyl, and possession of fentanyl with the intent to sell.

Malo was indicted in a separate drug case on Feb. 21 and has been held at the Belknap County Jail since Feb. 17.

According to court records, Malo and John French drove to Derry on Jan. 7 and picked up Matthew Schrider who had just left a residential drug rehabilitation facility. They then drove him where he purchased fentanyl. Schrider then gave the fentanyl to Malo who gave some of the drug back to Schrider, according to one of the indictments.

Malo and Schrider ingested some of the drug during the ride back to Alton and ingested more later at Malo’s residence.

The following day Schrider was found unresponsive. He was stabilized in the emergency room at Lakes Region General Hospital and then transferred to Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, according to an affidavit contained Malo’s court file.

Doctors at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center determined Schrider had suffered a brain lesion and, according to his mother “still suffer(s) from fallout symptoms of the overdose.” In addition doctors at LRGH noted “‘a prolonged hypoxic event (lack of sufficient oxygen to the brain) which seems to have caused an anoxic brain injury.’ The report goes on to say doctors agreed there is likely brain injury from heroin,” according to the affidavit.

As part of their investigation, Alton police checked the contents of Malo’s cellphone and were able to retrieve information which “yielded evidence (communications) of drug activity by Malo to known drug users dating back to 2016,” the affidavit states.