Jury Convicts Burlington County Man for 2017 Drug-induced Death

A man from Burlington County has been found guilty of selling fentanyl-laced heroin in 2017 which lead to a person's death.

42-year-old Bryant Taylor of Pemberton Township was found guilty by a jury on Thursday on all eight counts of an indictment, including strict liability for drug-induced death, two counts of distribution of a controlled dangerous substance, two counts of possession of a CDS, two counts of possession of a CDS with intent to distribute, and witness tampering, according to Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina.

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In June 2017, authorities say Pemberton Township police officers were called to Wawa on Arney’s Mount Road for a report of an unresponsive man on a bathroom floor. That man, 26-year-old Shane Cullens of Pemberton Township, died two days later in the hospital without ever regaining consciousness.

Coffina says the Burlington County Medical Examiner concluded Cullens' cause of death was heroin and fentanyl toxicity. An investigation by police determined the drugs that caused the fatal overdose had been purchased from Taylor.

The Burlington County Times reported Taylor was arrested in January 2019.

Sentencing is scheduled for October 28th. The charge of strict liability drug-induced death by itself carries up to a 20-year prison term.