Gwinnett County prosecutors push for murder convictions in Fentanyl related death cases

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Gwinnett County prosecutors say it is finally time to go after accused drug dealers in a way they’ve never done before.

They’ve decided it is time to seek murder convictions if the person an accused drug dealer sells to, dies from an overdose.

The county says they have seven similar cases with murder indictments with dozens more under investigation that may lead to murder charges. The district attorney’s office admits the cases are very challenging to prosecute but they said they feel like they have to do something because too many people are dying.

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“It is a very rarely engaged upon type of prosecution that hasn’t been utilized very often in the state of Georgia,” Gwinnett County Assistant District Attorney Brandon Delfunt said. “This marks the first time in the prosecution world, particularly here in Gwinnett has gone after street-level dealers who are peddling poison through our streets.”

This past week, Eric Moore pleaded guilty to murder as his case was in the process of starting jury selection. Prosecutors said the victim in this case, Barth Moser, died of an overdose in 2019. Moser left behind two daughters.

The District Attorney said Moser battled addiction and believed he was getting heroin from Moore. Instead, they said the drugs were laced with fentanyl and car-fentanyl. The two combined can kill in a matter of minutes.

“All the cases we’ve indicted involve fentanyl and we’ve seen over the last several years a significant uptick in the number of overdose deaths that involve fentanyl,” Delfunt said.

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Gwinnett County Medical Examiner Dr. Carol Terry said she is seeing fentanyl mixed with all sorts of drugs commonly sold on the streets.

“We’re seeing it mixed with meth, cocaine, heroin and arriving as pressed pills made to look like other drugs like Percocet or oxycodone,” Terry said. “If you don’t know someone who has been affected by this consider yourself lucky and in the minority because this is the monster in your backyard.”

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