Accused drug dealer faces murder charges in 2020 overdose death

A 2020 overdose death has led to an alleged drug dealer facing murder charges.

According to the criminal complaint, 50-year-old Craig Richard Carlino of Minneapolis is charged with third-degree murder after investigators found messages detailing a heroin sale between him and someone who died of an overdose later that day.

The victim was found unconscious inside a Columbia Heights sober house just after 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 23, 2020, according to the complaint. Medics arrived and brought the victim’s pulse back, but the victim died at North Memorial Hospital later that night. The medical examiner later determined that the victim died of mixed fentanyl and amphetamine toxicity.

Law enforcement arrived at the sober house at about 5:50 p.m. and found multiple bindles of a white powder substance and other drug paraphernalia, court records show. Other people in the house, including the house manager, told police that the victim was found unconscious in their room when the victim didn’t come down for band practice. The tenants then called 911, gave the victim Narcan, and started CPR, according to the complaint.

The house manager, who also owns the house, gave police permission to search the victim’s room, the criminal complaint states. Officers found the victim’s unlocked phone and found messages from a number labeled “Craig Dash” dated the day before the victim was found dead.

The messages detailed drug amounts and warnings that the drugs being sold were very strong and that the victim should be careful. The complaint quotes messages from “Craig Dash” saying, “Hey seriously like I said on the phone. Be very careful and do only like 1/4 of the one of the small bags,” and “Ya people I know that have huge tolerances keep flopping from this s—.” The last text message was at 1:26 a.m. on Sept. 23, 2020.

Police then discovered the phone number belonged to Craig Richard Carlino, who was on probation and living in Minneapolis, court records show.

The complaint states that a detective then used the victim’s phone to text Carlino in order to “meet up.” Carlino then called the victim’s phone on speaker, and another woman, named D.D. in the criminal complaint, was heard in the background. During the call, D.D. said to the detective that she heard the victim died of an overdose. The detective responded by saying the victim had an overdose but was revived with Narcan. Carlino and D.D. had agreed to meet, but after the detective sent a message about the meeting, Carlino said he didn’t know what the detective was talking about and stopped communicating with the victim’s phone.

During an interview with a detective, D.D. said she and the victim were childhood friends. The victim had contacted D.D. asking for heroin and put her in contact with someone who could provide it. She also said that Carlino called her to say he sold the victim three grams of fentanyl, adding that the victim was on Vivitrol and would need that much to get high. According to the complaint, he asked D.D. what he should do since he sold her the substance that killed her.

Police obtained a search warrant for a buccal swab from the defendant to test their DNA. Court records indicate that sample later matched the DNA found on the plastic baggies of the substance recovered at the sober house.