WILMINGTON WOMAN ARRESTED IN CONNECTION WITH DRUG OVERDOSE

LAKE PLACID -- A Wilmington woman has been charged with selling
fentanyl, a prescription drug that turned up in the bloodstream of a
man who died of a drug overdose.

Jonathan Bathmaier, 28, was found dead in his AuSable Forks home on
the night of May 17. An autopsy showed he died of an accidental,
mixed-drug overdose. Fentanyl was part of the drug cocktail.

State Police arrested Jennifer M. Pabins, 26, of Wilmington on Monday
and charged her with third-degree criminal sale of a controlled substance.

State Police Bureau of Criminal Investigation Capt. Robert LaFountain
said Pabins made that sale to Bathmaier in Lake Placid several days
before his death. LaFountain said there is no way to know whether the
doses Pabins sold to Bathmaier were the ones that killed him.

What authorities do know is that fentanyl, a painkiller, is a
dangerous drug when not used appropriately.

"This is a very, very powerful narcotic drug," LaFountain said,
adding that it is usually administered with a time-release patch that
patients place on their skin.

"People who are abusing this drug are finding other methods of
ingesting this drug, which is very potent and can lead to death."

He said abusers have been known to chew the patch, extract the drug
and inject it or plaster their bodies with multiple patches.

According to the Drug Enforcement Administration's Web site, fentanyl
is about 40 times more powerful than morphine.

In June of last year, the Food and Drug Administration issued a
public health advisory regarding the safe use of fentynal patches, in
response to reports of deaths from people using the drug.

LaFountain said drug-related fatalities are on the rise in the Troop
B coverage area, with deaths from heroin and fentanyl abuse outpacing others.

Bathmaier was found in his living room by a friend who had stopped by
to check on him. LaFountain said it appears Bathmaier had died
earlier in the day.

On that same day in Lake Placid, authorities announced the arrests of
a dozen or so suspected drug dealers.