Taunton Drug Dealer Sentenced in Overdose Death

FALL RIVER — A Taunton man who sold a potent batch of fentanyl to a Berkley man who later died of an overdose has been sentenced.

The Bristol County District Attorney's Office says Scott Reynolds, 24, of Taunton, was sentenced Friday in Fall River Superior Court to serve four to six years in prison to be followed by three years of probation. Reynolds pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with involuntary manslaughter along with charges of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and possession of heroin.

Reynolds knowingly sold an "extremely powerful batch" of fentanyl to Marc Esperanca, 25, of Berkley, in 2016. Esperanca was found dead of a fentanyl overdose in his home on April 5, 2016. Massachusetts State Police Detectives assigned to the Bristol County District Attorney's Office discovered text messages from Reynolds on Esperanca's phone. The messages indicated that Reynolds knew that the fentanyl he was selling was potentially lethal. Other messages showed Esperanca attempted to refuse drugs from Reynolds on several occasions because he was trying to stay clean.

"The defendant sold fentanyl to the victim while knowing that the potency could be lethal.  He wantonly and recklessly caused the victim's death," said Bristol County District Attorney Thomas Quinn III. "Defendants need to be held accountable when the evidence clearly shows their culpability for knowingly selling highly potent and lethal narcotics that cause death. This sentence does that."