Dunkard Township man pleads guilty to selling drugs that led to fatal overdose
A homicide charge was dismissed against a Dunkard Township man in an agreement that saw him plead guilty to providing drugs that led to a Greensboro man’s fatal overdose in September 2023.
Roy Allen Keener, 45, pleaded guilty in Greene County Court of Common Pleas on Tuesday to drug delivery resulting in death. He had been scheduled for a two-day trial to begin that day.
On Sept. 1, 2023, Cumberland Township police found Nicholas Michael Palmer, 26, dead in his home in Greensboro from what an autopsy later revealed to be acute fentanyl poisoning.
Police said they identified Facebook messages from that morning in which Keener agreed to sell heroin to Palmer. He also confessed to selling the heroin in an interview with police after his arrest, according to the criminal complaint.
At Keener’s preliminary hearing in February 2024, District Attorney Briana Vanata said evidence she planned to present at trial demonstrated Keener knew the heroin he gave Palmer contained fentanyl.
Charges were filed against Keener in January 2024. A day later, a multi-agency search of several hours ended with Keener being apprehended while trying to hide inside a car in the Dilliner area.
In exchange for the guilty plea, charges of homicide and possession with intent to deliver were dismissed.
Vanata was unavailable for comment Thursday. A message was left with Keener’s defense attorney, Public Defender Mark Kovach, seeking comment Thursday.
The court docket for Keener’s case did not list a sentencing date.