Mar 19, 2025 By Mike Jones 2 min read

A Chartiers Township man who helped to facilitate the sale of a deadly batch of fentanyl-laced cocaine to another man in 2023 pleaded guilty Tuesday and was sentenced to house arrest due to his cooperation with prosecutors throughout the investigation.

John Stephen Backner, 58, pleaded guilty at the Washington County Courthouse to one felony count of drug delivery resulting in death and was immediately sentenced by Judge Valarie Costanzo to time served, along with one year on electronic home monitoring followed by five years probation.

Backner sold cocaine to Sean Thomas Caldwell after the two met up in Chartiers Township on Oct 4, 2023. Hours later, Mt. Pleasant Township police were called to Caldwell’s home he shared with his mother in Hickory after she found him unresponsive in the bathroom. Officers tried to revive Caldwell, 41, using naloxone, but were unsuccessful and he was pronounced dead at the scene after ingesting the cocaine that contained fentanyl and other drugs.

Investigators found Caldwell’s cellphone and were able to identify Backner using his cellphone number and the user name on a social media app used by the two men to communicate. Mt. Pleasant police arrested Backner on Dec. 18, 2023, and he was held for six months at the Washington County jail on $500,000 cash until his bond was reduced to non-monetary last June and he was released.

Deputy District Attorney John Friedmann said the prosecution agreed to the plea deal because Backner cooperated with investigators and continues to do so while the investigation remains open. Backner’s public defender, Jake Mihalov, confirmed the plea deal but declined to comment on the case following the hearing.

Two other women, Crystal Carson, 36, of Lawrence, and Amber Joy Elcyzyn, 37, of Washington, were also charged in connection with Backner in facilitating the sale to Caldwell. Both are free on unsecured bond and awaiting trial on charges of drug delivery resulting in death and conspiracy.