Suspect charged in Washington man’s fatal overdose rejects plea offer, heads to trial
A Homestead man rejected a plea offer from the Washington County district attorney’s office and instead chose a trial on charges alleging he sold fentanyl disguised as prescription pills to a Washington man who overdosed and died in September 2020.
Calvin Domingo Ortiz, 34, requested a jury trial at a hearing before Judge Valarie Costanzo Tuesday morning, according to Assistant District Attorney Rachel Wheeler.
“He is rejecting our plea offer,” Wheeler said, declining to disclose the details of the offer to Ortiz.
Court records indicate that Ortiz is being represented by Anton Berkovich, a public defender. Berkovich did not respond to a request for comment by Tuesday’s deadline.
According to Wheeler, Ortiz’s trial on conspiracy charges of drug delivery resulting in death, possession with intent to deliver and criminal use of a communication facility will be held in December.
The charges stem from the Sept. 29, 2020, death of Bradley Remerowski, 32. A colleague went to pick up Remerowski for work the next morning and discovered him in his Victoria Street apartment.
Ortiz was arrested about two years later. At his preliminary hearing last October, prosecutors relied heavily on the testimony of Duane Berry Jr., 30, of Carnegie.
Washington police originally charged Berry in the case based on communications between him and Remerowski. Berry told police that he facilitated the drug deal between Remerowski and Ortiz, but was not present when it occurred. He still faces conspiracy charges for drug delivery resulting in death.
Berry testified at the preliminary hearing that he bought what he believed to be a Percocet pain pill from Ortiz in early September 2020, and overdosed minutes after taking the drug. He was hospitalized and found to have a high level of fentanyl in his system.
Later that month Berry was accused of helping Remerowski arrange to purchase six pills for $350 from Ortiz.
Berry told Remerowski in a text message he had recently overdosed after taking a pill from Ortiz, court documents indicate.
Berry is scheduled to appear in plea court at 10 a.m. Oct. 24. He is free on $100,000 unsecured bond.
Ortiz is being held in the Allegheny County jail without bond. Wheeler said he had pending criminal cases in Allegheny County and has been held there since his arrest.