Portland man charged in methadone death

PORTLAND – A Portland man was charged Thursday with manslaughter for giving a dose of prescription methadone to another man who later died of a drug overdose.

A Cumberland County Grand Jury indicted Scott Darling, 40, in the death of Seth Jordan, 27, who was found dead on the fire escape of a Portland apartment building April 14.

The state medical examiner determined that Jordan died of acute methadone poisoning. There were no other drugs in his system.

“I hope this sends a message out that you can be held responsible for someone’s death in this type of situation,” said Cumberland County District Attorney Stephanie Anderson. “I hope people begin to realize that by providing drugs, they just can’t wash their hands of it if that person dies.”

The indictment comes as Portland and other communities grapple with a surge in overdose deaths and a growing problem with drug users obtaining prescription methadone that some addicts are allowed to take home.

Methadone is a powerful narcotic prescribed to people addicted to opiates like heroin to curb their craving for illegal drugs. The dosage appropriate for someone who has a high tolerance for methadone can easily kill someone who does not take it regularly.

Jordan, who was from the island community of Long Island, had been an exemplary student and athlete at Portland High School and graduated on the dean’s list from Duke University in 1997.

But he battled mental illness and developed a serious drug problem.

After Jordan’s death, a Portland detective spent months tracking Jordan’s movements in the hours before he died.

The detective determined that Darling gave his methadone to Jordan – and that is what killed him.

Anderson said the indictment shows a growing willingness by grand juries to bring charges of manslaughter against the furnisher of drugs in overdose deaths. It remains to be seen whether juries will convict on those circumstances.

Anderson’s office last year conducted the state’s first successful manslaughter prosecution of someone who provided the drugs that killed an overdose victim.

The charge against Darling is believed to be the first case of a person being charged in another’s death after giving him a prescription drug.