by April Scheinoha
Reporter

A St. Hilaire man has been charged in Pennington County District Court after he allegedly supplied two pills containing fentanyl to a man who overdosed. Less than a month earlier, Anthony Joseph Drury, 31, had been sentenced for supplying the fentanyl mixture that led to his fiancée’s death.

For this latest case, Drury has been charged with felony offenses of third degree controlled substance crime – sale, certain persons not to possess firearms, great bodily harm caused by distribution of drugs, and fifth degree controlled substance crime – possession. He was arrested.

The charges stemmed from a report of a possible drug overdose at about 10 a.m. Monday at Northland Village, 1518 Hwy. 1 E., Apartment 205. The man survived after being administered Narcan, according to the complaint. The overdose victim, another man and Drury’s own words linked him to the alleged crimes.

Upon arriving at the scene, the police investigator was led to a bathroom. On the floor was an unresponsive 48-year-old man, who was breathing and moaning. The investigator administered Narcan. When he grabbed the man to move him in order for paramedics to assist him, the man became responsive and began getting up on his own.

The investigator removed a piece of tinfoil from the man’s hand, knowing that tinfoil is often used to smoke fentanyl. If a paramedic touched any tinfoil containing fentanyl, they could have been harmed. The balled-up tinfoil was later tested. Law enforcement was unable to obtain an accurate test result since the residue had been burned.

The man was taken to the hospital and released a short time later. The following day, he went to the Law Enforcement Center to thank the investigator for saving his life.

While medical personnel assisted the overdose victim, law enforcement learned that the man and his mom had been given permission to use a vacant nearby apartment to store items. There, they allegedly found multiple strips of tinfoil and a homemade pipe. Such items are commonly used to smoke fentanyl pills. They were seized even though they appeared to be clean.

Law enforcement later spoke to a man who said he believed Drury had supplied fentanyl-laced drugs to the man. He said he and Drury had spoken after he had learned the man was going to the hospital. Drury allegedly told him that he was planning to change his phone number.

Law enforcement later observed a text message between that man and Drury in which Drury allegedly asked him if he wanted any pills. He referred to the pills as blues, which is slang for M-30 pills and similar to the pill consumed by the overdose victim. The message was sent about 40 minutes before the overdose was reported.

Since Drury remains on probation for the charges related to his fiancée’s fatal fentanyl overdose, law enforcement and a probation agent went to his home to obtain a urinalysis from him. Drury was home at 314 Water Ave. at the time. Drury said he would fail “for a lot of different things including ‘dope,’” according to the complaint. He began using his phone, telling officers that he was looking at a calendar. A Pine to Prairie Drug Task Force investigator then seized the phone since he could tell Drury was opening his messages.

A search was also conducted of Drury’s locked bedroom. He assisted law enforcement in locating various drugs and drug paraphernalia in his bedroom. Law enforcement found five blue M-30 pills located inside the knife handle of a box cutter. One of the pills had a presumptive positive test result for fentanyl. Also found were a bag of mushrooms, a small plastic bag with residue, a zip-top bag containing white powder, a capsule in a baggie, and 1-1/2 purported muscle relaxers. Tinfoil was found in various parts of the room. Some of the tinfoil was located in a garbage can and contained burnt residue.

Drury allegedly said he didn’t know the conditions of his probation. He said the mushrooms helped with his anxiety. Drury also admitted snorting opiates and possessing small plastic baggies that may contain methamphetamine residue and muscle relaxer residue.

At one point during his statement, Drury allegedly said he bought seven M-30 pills from the overdose victim for $30 each. He said they had supplied each other with drugs in the past. However, when asked again, he said he had last sold pills to the man two days earlier. Drury said they had pooled their money.

The day after the overdose, the overdose victim went to the Law Enforcement Center to thank the investigator. He agreed to speak further with the investigator after sharing his appreciation. He allegedly said he had purchased a pill from Drury the night or day prior to the overdose. He said this was the first time he had used drugs in years. He refused to give the investigator the password to his phone, but he said he would think about it and indicated he would return to talk to the investigator next week.

Drury also faces a firearms charge. As the probation agent scrolled through Drury’s phone, she allegedly saw a photo of an AR-style rifle. Drury admitted that he isn’t supposed to possess firearms since he remains on probation.

The phone also contained messages in which Drury asked for ammunition, and said he had cleaned the gun and wanted to shoot it. Drury said he only showed a friend how to clean that type of firearm and didn’t touch it.

However, Drury later said the earlier interviewee had sold the rifle to him for a couple pills and a couple hundred dollars. Drury eventually said he owned the rifle for about two weeks and sold it to a third man for pills around Feb. 28. The sale was facilitated through another individual. Drury said he never shot the gun.

The picture showed the photographer’s thumb and a ring as the person held the rifle. Law enforcement believed the thumb matched Drury’s thumb and the silver ring matched one worn by Drury. He said he believed his hand was in the picture.

While law enforcement searched Drury’s phone after Drury’s arrest, a factory reset began on the phone. The police investigator was able to place the phone and its removable SIM card in a Faraday bag to prevent the phone from transmitting digital signals.

They soon learned that Drury had spoken to his brother from jail. The brother was told to talk to another man, but the brother said he had already figured it out. Drury referred to a “Find My Phone” app and the man would know what Drury wanted. A password was then given to Drury’s mom, who was also on the phone call.

It was unclear from Drury’s complaint whether anyone else will be charged in connection with the case.

Prior case
On Feb. 17, Drury was sentenced for a felony charge of third degree murder – sell/give/distribute a Schedule 1 & 2 controlled substance. Drury testified that he and his fiancée, Michaela Rose Constance Cooper, pooled together their money for the fentanyl mixture that would eventually take her life Dec. 2, 2021.

For the murder charge, Drury was sentenced to 74 months in prison stayed for 10 years. As a condition of that sentence, he was ordered to serve 365 days in jail. Drury was given credit for 111 days served. He was ordered to report to jail by Friday, March 10 at 5 p.m. His jail report date was four days after the latest overdose.