Two men indicted for manslaughter, accused of providing drugs to man who fatally overdosed in Ludlow

SPRINGFIELD – Two men will be arraigned Tuesday on manslaughter charges in connection with the overdose death of David Simonoko in Ludlow in March.

Bradley S. Hoffmeier, 23, of Ludlow, and Vashon B. Robinson, 23, face the involuntary manslaughter charge and drugs charges in Hampden Superior Court.

The indictments against the two men are in connection with a sudden spike in heroin deaths announced by Hampden District Attorney Anthony Gulluni and Baystate Medical Center officials in March. Gulluni said the deaths were connected to a local distribution ring.

Three other man were indicted in July on involuntary manslaughter – by wanton and reckless conduct – and drug charges in connection with another Ludlow overdose death.

Frank Jimenez, 34, of Springfield, Christopher Fitzpatrick, 23, of Ludlow, and Daniel Moffat, 28, of Ludlow, face the manslaughter charge in relation to the death of Michael Lecca, 38, of Ludlow.

In addition to the manslaughter charge in relation to Simonoko’s death, Robinson and Hoffmeier are also charged with distribution of heroin and fentanyl. Hoffmeier is also charged with misleading Ludlow police officers.

Simonoko, 28, of Ludlow, suffered his heart attack in Hoffmeier’s home in Ludlow while snorting heroin. He died at Baystate on March 16, four days after being brought to the hospital, Gulluni said.

In March, Gulluni held a press conference announcing that a tip from Baystate Medical Center staff about a sudden spike in heroin overdoses led local and state police to identify and stop a local distribution ring that is being blamed for three deaths.

In particular, he cited the actions of Dr. Gerald Beltran, the chief of pre-hospital and disaster medicine, who on March 15 contacted state police detectives assigned to Gulluni’s office about a potential public health crisis caused by a particularly lethal strain of heroin in the area. The heroin is believed to have been laced with fentanyl, officials said.

DA Anthony Gulluni: Alert from Baystate Medical Center about fatal heroin overdoses led to 3 arrests

That notification led to a multi-agency police investigation, including Ludlow and Agawam police, state police and the Eastern Hampden County Drug Task Force, that identified two other fatal overdoses and four suspects linked to them and to each other.

That led to the arrests of Jimenez, Fitzpatrick, and Moffat on drug charges, and they were later indicted for manslaughter. At the time a warrant was issued for Hoffmeier on drug charges.