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WB police refile assault charges against city man

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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; A Dallas man accused of giving drugs to a woman who died after overdosing pleaded guilty this week.</p><p>David Haines, 31, entered the plea on counts of drug delivery resulting in death and tampering with evidence.</p><p>Other charges related to the case were withdrawn by prosecutors.</p><p>Haines was accused of supplying Gale Avery with heroin laced with fentanyl in June 2017.</p><p>According to the original complaint, police responded to a Poplar Street home in Dallas Township on June 19, 2017, for reports of an unresponsive female, who was later identified as Avery.</p><p>She was declared dead less than an hour later by a deputy coroner.</p><p>Haines, who lived in the home, allegedly admitted to buying the heroin that killed Avery. Court papers say he told police: &#8220;I knew it had fentanyl in it because I tasted it, and it had that fentanyl (expletive) taste to it.&#8221;</p><p>Haines initially entered a plea of not guilty in county court last November.</p><p>He also allegedly told police that he discarded some evidence.</p><p>On Monday, Haines also pleaded guilty to unrelated charges of DUI and possession of a controlled substance.</p><p>A sentencing date for Haines will not be set until June 22, court records show.</p><p>Haines was only the third person in county history to be charged under a law change that makes it easier for prosecutors to go after alleged suppliers in fatal overdoses. </p><p>Eric Scott Malia and Joan Rosengrant, both of Wilkes-Barre, were charged in April 2017, marking the first arrests of their kind in county history. They were accused in the January 2017 overdose of Michael Gumaer.</p><p>Rosengrant died in the Luzerne County Correctional Facility last July.</p><p>Malia, meanwhile, is scheduled for trial Sept. 10.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_web1_Haines-2c-David.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Haines </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/web1_web1_Haines-2c-David.jpg</photo0><caption0>Haines </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Patrick Kernan</p><p>pkernan@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Patrick Kernan at 570-991-6386 or on Twitter @PatKernan</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Dallas man pleads guilty in woman’s fatal overdose