Gavel (Credit: Brian Turner/Flickr)
A Monmouth County man has admitted to providing drugs to a Toms River man who was a fellow inmate at the county jail there.
Appearing before Monmouth County Superior Court Judge Chad N. Cagan last Friday, Alvino Hinton, 48, of Long Branch pleaded guilty to a single count of Strict Liability for a Drug-Induced Death by providing drugs to 31-year-old David Egner, of Toms River.
According to prosecutors, at approximately 9:05 a.m. on Sunday, April 17, 2022, officers at the Monmouth County Correctional Institution found Egner non-responsive on the floor of his cell. First aid was immediately rendered and Egner was rushed to a local hospital for treatment, where he was diagnosed as suffering from heroin and fentanyl poisoning. He was pronounced deceased at the hospital several days later.
A cooperative investigation led by the prosecutor’s office and jail investigators revealed that earlier on the same morning he was found unresponsive, Egner had entered Hinton’s cell to deliver a tray of food. At that time, Hinton admitted during his plea hearing, he provided Egner with a quantity of heroin laced with fentanyl. Hinton was formally charged in August 2022.
Sentencing in the case has been tentatively scheduled for Friday, Aug. 11, at which time Hinton is expected to face a term of 10 years in state prison, with at least 85 percent of the term to be served prior to the possibility of parole under the provisions of New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.
According to jail records, Hinton is also facing charges of possessing and manufacturing drugs.
