Mar 5, 2026 By Mike Jones 3 min read

A Carnegie man who helped to facilitate the purchase of drugs for an acquaintance that later killed the other man nearly six years ago pleaded guilty to a lesser charge Wednesday after he cooperated with investigators to help them catch the dealer.

Duane Berry Jr., 33, appeared in the Washington County Courthouse before President Judge Valarie Costanzo and pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy with intent to deliver and was immediately sentenced to serve three years on probation.

Berry had been facing more serious charges of drug delivery resulting in death in the fatal overdose of 32-year-old Bradley Remerowski in Washington on Sept. 30, 2020, but he cooperated with the investigation and pointed them in the direction of the man who sold both of them the deadly drugs they thought were Percocet.

Berry told police that Calvin Ortiz, 36, of Homestead, sold him what he believed to be Percocet, but turned out to be fentanyl-laced drugs. Berry took the drugs in early September 2020 and overdosed, but a friend was with him at the time and was able to use the opioid-reversing antidote naloxone, which saved Berry’s life.

About three weeks later, Remerowski contacted Berry asking where he could find pain killers or Suboxone, so Berry contacted Ortiz. Berry served as the intermediary between the two men, and Remerowski agreed to purchase six pills of Percocet “for a friend” for $350 if Ortiz drove to Washington to deliver the drugs.

Remerowski was found dead in his apartment the following morning by a colleague who went to pick him up for work. The initial investigation centered on Berry, who went to drug rehabilitation for four months after Remerowski’s death, but he pinned the blame on Ortiz when speaking to police.

Ortiz pleaded no contest to drug delivery resulting in death and criminal use of a communication facility on Oct. 29, and Costanzo sentenced him to serve 4 to 10 years in prison. However, Ortiz attempted to backtrack on his plea shortly afterward before deciding to withdraw that petition last week. That allowed Berry’s plea deal to be finalized, according to defense attorney C.J. Blackwell.

“He was a drug addict as well,” Blackwell said. “He lined up the sale of the drugs (with Remerowski). They both overdosed. Duane was taken to a hospital and the other individual was alone at the time and died.”

Berry, who was arrested and charged in July 2021, has been on electronic home monitoring since his release from jail in September 2021. Blackwell said Berry will be able to serve his probation in Allegheny County, where he lives.

“It does allow him to move forward with some element of finality,” Blackwell said.