Alexander Meader Photo courtesy Frankin County Detention Center

FARMINGTON — A Winthrop man is accused of providing crack cocaine and heroin/fentanyl to a 55-year-old woman who died March 2 of an overdose at her apartment on Fairbanks Road.

Alexander S. Meader, 27, was arrested Monday in Winthrop on two counts of unlawful trafficking in cocaine; two counts of unlawful trafficking in heroin and/or fentanyl; two counts of unlawful furnishing, one for cocaine and the other heroin/fentanyl; and one count of violation of conditions of release.

The arrest by Farmington police Sgt. Edward Hastings IV followed a five-month investigation.

On March 2, Hastings responded to a report of a woman at 195 Fairbanks Road who was not breathing. Attempts to resuscitate her were unsuccessful.

A toxicology report and medical examiner’s investigation concluded the woman died of acute intoxication due to the combined effects of cocaine, heroin, fentanyl and the prescription antidepressants trazadone and venlafaxine. There were no needle marks on her body, according to the affidavit

Hastings’ affidavit filed with a Farmington court said a man at the apartment told him that he and the woman had smoked marijuana and crack cocaine the night of March 1 and until 4 a.m. March 2. The man retrieved two crack pipes, push rods for the pipes and a small plastic container used for insulin blood test strips and handed them to police. The container had what appeared to be eight packets of heroin and some crack-cocaine rocks.

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During the investigation, which included other Farmington police and a drug agent, police learned the man sent text messages to Meader on Feb. 28, allegedly arranging to buy crack cocaine March 1. The man and woman went to Meader’s residence and bought two grams of crack cocaine for $240, according to  the affidavit.

The man told police Meader was selling crack and heroin at the woman’s apartment.

When police went to Meader’s residence he was sitting in the passenger seat of a car starting to back out of the driveway. He put his hand in his pants pocket and tried to pull out heroin baggies along with what appeared to be a crack pipe, according to the affidavit.

Several empty baggies of heroin were found on his person and $759 in cash. A heroin baggie he was sitting on had the word Hulk on it and matched baggies of heroin found at the woman’s apartment. Among the contents in the car were three bundles of 10 packs of heroin weighing 3.6 grams, according to Hastings.

A search of Meader’s bedroom turned up numerous empty heroin baggies, a small bag of crack cocaine, dozens of needles and drug paraphernalia.

According to the affidavit, Meader told police the man and woman came to his house March 1, after which the three of them went to her apartment.

Meader is being held without bail at the Franklin County Detention Center and is expected to go before a judge Wednesday.

A conviction on the drug trafficking charge is punishable by up to 10 years in prison and up to a $20,000 fine. Conviction on a furnishing charge is punishable by up to five years in prison and up to a $5,000 fine. Violating release conditions is punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine.


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