Woman Facing Drug Trafficking Charges In Aftermath Of Overdose; Claims Victim Mistook Adderall For M&Ms
David Creed •
A Dunstable woman was arraigned in Nantucket District Court Tuesday morning on charges that allege she was in possession of over 70 grams of cocaine and an unidentified amount of heroin at the scene of an overdose. She told police a friend she was visiting on Nantucket consumed 70 Adderall pills that she believed he mistakenly thought were "Reese’s M&Ms." The man was subsequently administered Narcan, med-flighted to an off-island hospital, and remains in critical condition as of Tuesday afternoon.
Nicole Pelrine, 32, is facing charges of possessing a Class A drug, trafficking cocaine over 36 grams but less than 100 grams, and inhaling a glue/toxic substance. The incident took place at a Heller's Way property near Cisco Beach over Memorial Day Weekend on Sunday, May 25th and Pelrine was held in jail until her arraignment on Tuesday. She had not-guilty pleas entered on her behalf and had her bail set by Nantucket District Court Judge Paul Pino at $1,000 cash, $10,000 surety.
During Tuesday’s bail hearing, Cape & Islands assistant district attorney Shaunna Souve requested that the court hold Pelrine on dangerousness until her trial due to two open cases in Lowell District Court where she is facing charges of possession to distribute a class B substance, as well as a history of not appearing for previous court dates, the alleged victim in the island incident remaining in critical condition, and that Pelrine is homeless which could make it difficult to track her whereabouts. She said if Judge Pino did not find dangerousness, the DA’s office would be requesting $50,000 cash bail.
"She was nonchalant, but ultimately standoffish," Souve said of Pelrine’s interactions with police. "At first she stated she did not know the victim's name, but ultimately through investigation it turned out she had been a friend of the victim for possibly a few months. This home was actually the victim's home, or the victim's parents home, but they haven't had any prior relationship before this event. She had stated that they were drinking throughout the night and that they don't remember ingesting any narcotics. Souve said that Pelrine had told police that she believed the alleged victim had mistaken Adderall for Reese's M&M pieces, and she believed he took 70 pills of Adderall on accident off of a nightstand.
“The story was consistently changing,” Souve added. “Whether she would give a name or not give a name, how they knew each other, how long they knew each other. (Police) observed white powdery substance on different areas of the home, on side tables in the living room, on the kitchen table, in the bathroom. (Pelrine) was also adamant about no one going into that one bedroom where the door was closed.”
According to the police report, Police were dispatched to the Heller’s Way residence for the report of a suspected drug overdose on Sunday, May 25th at 1:58 p.m. While on scene, officers identified the reporting party as Pelrine. She told police she and the alleged victim were staying at his parents’ house for the weekend, and it was just them at the residence. Pelrine told officers she and the alleged victim were sleeping in the same room and not using the other bedroom.
Due to law enforcement officers' observations of illegal drug use within the residence, NPD applied for and was granted a search warrant. During the execution of the warrant, white powder and hard white chunky substances consistent with cocaine were found in multiple areas throughout the house, with a combined total weight of 78.5 grams. A tan powder substance recognized by police to be consistent with heroin was found in multiple areas throughout the house with an unknown combined weight due to the packaging. Police said they also located two canisters of nitrous oxide with a net weight of 2,700 grams each, thick balloons believed to be used to inhale the nitrous oxide with an elastic on the bottom, a scale with white powdery residue on it, multiple crack pipes, butane lighters, and other drug paraphernalia.
Pelrine told police she arrived on island Friday and planned to leave on Monday. Souve said since Pelrine does not have ties to Nantucket and is homeless, the district attorney’s office fears it will have trouble getting her back into the Nantucket District Court room for her future court dates.
"Considering she does have a history of similar offenses, her lack of ties to this community and ties to other areas, including New Hampshire based upon our Triple I, we are asking that you hold her pending trial,” Souve said. “There is a minimum mandatory (sentence) of three and a half years at the very least (in state prison) if the matter were to be indicted. She does have those two open offenses where she received the bail warning from the summertime of last year to not commit new offenses.
“If your honor is not inclined to revoke or to hold her pending trial, the Commonwealth would request a $50,000 cash bail,” Souve concluded. “She does have defaults (warrants) for when she did have cases, although she doesn't have much currently. It does show that when she has picked up cases in the past, she has shown an inability to appear.”
Jenny Margeson, who was appointed by the court to represent Pelrine, argued that this is a clear-cut case under the Good Samaritan Law as Pelrine was the individual who called 911 and was able to get the alleged victim medical attention.
According to Massachusetts Law Chapter 94C, Section 34A, which was passed in 2012 in an attempt to encourage people to call 9-1-1 in an overdose emergency, states in part: “A person who, in good faith, seeks medical assistance for someone experiencing a drug-related overdose shall not be charged or prosecuted for possession of a controlled substance under section 34 or found in violation of a condition of probation or pretrial release as determined by a court or a condition of parole, as determined by the parole board if the evidence for the charge of possession of a controlled substance or violation was gained as a result of the seeking of medical assistance.”
The law states that it does not prevent anyone from being charged with trafficking, distribution or possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Margeson said Pelrine knew the alleged victim for about one month and that they were friends. Margeson confirmed that this was not Pelrine’s home and claimed that the drugs discovered by Nantucket Police were not hers.
"He experienced an overdose. She called 911. His parents confirmed that they had traveled to the house on Nantucket on Friday, that they were scheduled to leave yesterday on Monday, that she was visiting, that this was not her home, that those were not her belongings,” Margeson argued on behalf of Pelrine. “This is a real straightforward Good Samaritan Case your honor. There was a gentleman experiencing an overdose. She called 911 and she was present at the home. They administered Narcan, as you heard the Commonwealth say, and that didn't work, so clearly this was not a heroin overdose. My client stated she believed that it was his own prescription medication…. that would confirm her story, (and) it clearly wasn't a heroin overdose. The fact that she doesn't have his thorough medical history is not a crime. She was visiting. They've been friends for a month. She was honest with the police that she was here visiting him, that they've known each other for a month. But the fact that she doesn't know his intense medical history is not against the law.”
Pino ultimately declared he did not find Pelrine to be a danger to the community and issued the $1,000 cash bail. Margeson said it was unclear whether Pelrine would be able to post it. Pelrine was ordered to return to court June 23rd for a pretrial hearing.