Chartiers Township man pleads to lesser charge in fatal drug overdose
A Chartiers Township man accused of selling counterfeit pain medication to a man who later died of a drug overdose pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and could be released from jail next month.
Matthew Logan Rozanc, 21, appeared Thursday before Judge Traci McDonald in the Washington County Courthouse and pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
As part of the negotiated plea deal with prosecutors, McDonald immediately sentenced Rozanc to serve one to two years in jail, meaning he could be released in late July since he has been held at the Washington County jail on a $350,000 percentage bond since his arrest on July 25.
Rozanc was charged last year with drug delivery resulting in death and other felony drug counts after Chartiers Township police accused him of selling counterfeit pain medication to Joshua Kinser, who was found dead by a relative April 24, 2024, inside his recreational vehicle in the 700 block of Ridge Avenue in the township. Text messages between the two men three days earlier showed Kinser asking about “blues,” which are typically prescription pills containing fentanyl, but Rozanc did not respond, according to testimony at his preliminary hearing last August.
Security footage from the property where Kisner’s RV was parked showed Rozanc’s vehicle arriving on April 21 and leaving shortly after. But during the preliminary hearing, defense attorney Wendy Williams argued that her client had only discussed smoking marijuana in the text messages and never agreed to sell any drugs. Other evidence revealed at the preliminary hearing showed a relative of Kisner found additional drugs in the RV after police processed the scene.
Washington County District Attorney Jason Walsh said Friday that the plea bargain was through typical negotiations between both sides, although he did not elaborate on why the prosecution decided not to continue pursuing the drug delivery resulting in death charge, which would carry a heftier sentence.
Williams could not be reached for comment Friday to discuss the plea deal.