Elkins Park Man Charged In Death Of Man Who Overdosed On Fentanyl

CHELTENHAM, PA — An Elkins Park man has been charged in connection with a drug overdose death earlier this year.

On Wednesday, the Montgomery County District Attorney’s Office announced the arrest of Cheltenham resident Saeed McCrae, 23, for his alleged role in the death of fellow township resident Nathan Lauch back on Feb. 23 of this year.

According to authorities, Lauch was found dead in his apartment on the 300 block of Cottman Avenue after overdosing on pills originally thought to be just heroin, but what later turned out to contain the even deadlier fentanyl.

Cheltenham Township police investigators along with county detectives launched an investigation following Lauch’s death, and they arrested McCrae the very next day after they, acting as Lauch by using the deceased man’s cellphone, met up with McCrae in what was essentially an undercover drug deal, according to the District Attorney’s Office.

When McCrae was arrested, investigators found five yellow round pills inscribed with a “T” and “189” wrapped in a piece of torn receipt paper; the same types of pills had been found in Lauch’s apartment when police found him dead, according to a news release from the DA’s office.

Prosecutors say that while oxycodone pills are typically described as round yellow pills inscribed with a “T” and “189,” lab tests on the pills found in both McCrae’s wallet during his arrest and in Lauch’s apartment found they actually contained fentanyl and chlorofentanyl.

“This defendant was selling counterfeit oxycodone pills that actually contained the even deadlier fentanyl. It is truly ‘buyer beware’ for drug users as there is no guarantee that what a drug dealer says he is selling is actually what is being sold,” Montgomery County District Attorney Kevin Steele said in a statement. “These tragic overdose deaths are happening to far too many families, ripping them apart. Montgomery County law enforcement will continue to hold drug dealers accountable for selling the deadly drugs that kill people.”

According to the criminal complaint in the case, investigators had met with a confidential informant who confirmed that McCrae had indeed been selling pills in Cheltenham by using his cellphone as a means to meet up with individuals to facilitate drug deliveries.

“The Confidential Informant was shown a PennDOT photo of Saeed McCrae and he or she positively identified him as being the subject who is trafficking drugs in the Cheltenham area of Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,” the criminal complaint states. “The basis for the Confidential Informant’s knowledge is through his/her personal experiences."

Investigators also say they found more than 1,400 text messages on Lauch’s cellphone between himself and McCrae. When they searched McCrae’s apartment, they also found similar pills as those found in McCrae’s wallet at the time of his arrest and the ones found in Lauch’s apartment.

McCrae is being charged with drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver, criminal use of a communications facility and related charges. He was arraigned before Magisterial District Judge Karen Zucker, who remanded McCrae to the Montgomery County Correctional Facility after the defendant failed to post the $150,000 cash bail that had been set, according to the DA’s office.

A preliminary hearing on the charges has been scheduled for Aug. 6 before Zucker.