Drug Dealer Charged In Man's Morrisville Overdose Death (ICYMI)

MORRISVILLE, PA — A convicted drug dealer from New Jersey who had been arrested more than 20 times now faces felony charges in the death of a man in Morrisville.

Lamar Daniel Campbell, 40, of Trenton, N.J., was charged last month in Bucks County with drug delivery resulting in death, a felony, involuntary manslaugher and other crimes related to the death of 40-year-old Joseph Prieth.

According to a police affidavit, Campbell sold Prieth a combination of heroin and fentanyl on June 29 of last year. Prieth would die later that day after taking the drugs. The overdose happened at an apartment on Plaza Boulevard in Morrisville, according to the affidavit.

Prieth was found dead in the apartment's bathroom, with a syringe and used heroin bags around him, police said.

Prieth's wife turned his cellphone over to investigators and they discovered a series of text messages on it with someone identified as "MD." The messages included what appeared to be the two men setting up a drug transaction on the same day Prieth died, police said.

Using his cellphone number, police tracked down Campbell in Trenton and confirmed that he had been the subject of previous drug investigations. According to New Jersey Department of Corrections records, Campbell had been released from jail on Jan. 31 after serving about nine months on a drug-dealing charge.

In all, he had been arrested 23 times and convicted 10 times, police said in the affidavit.

In August, police in Trenton set up a drug buy from Campbell with an undercover informant. They say the informant texted the number from Prieth's phone and the man on the other end set up a time and location for him to buy heroin.

Another man delivered the drugs and sold them to the informant, after which someone from Campbell's number called to make sure the deal went down, police said.

Police set up a second undercover drug buy before eventually interviewing Campbell and seizing his cellphone, which they say contained data confirming he was the one who sold drugs to Prieth and the undercover informants.

According to court documents, Campbell is awaiting a preliminary hearing in the case.