North Huntingdon man's overdose death leads to charges against Hempfield man

A Hempfield man is accused of providing a fatal dose of drugs to a North Huntingdon man who had been clean for about two years until being contacted by the suspect, his former drug dealer, according to township police.

Authorities said powerful opioid fentanyl and animal tranquilizer xylazine were present in five stamp bags of drugs found at 43-year-old Joseph Ginter’s North Huntingdon home, where he died July 1 from a drug overdose.

Justin Michael Todaro, 36, was arrested Thursday and jailed on $250,000 bail. He is charged with drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility and related drug offenses.

The use of xylazine as an additive in drugs has been increasing locally and nationally in the last few years. Xylazine is a powerful sedative, and, unlike opioids such as heroin and fentanyl, it cannot be counteracted by the use of naloxone, which is used as a lifesaving treatment for someone in an opioid overdose.

In Westmoreland County, xylazine was one of the substances used by 31 of 168 people who died of drug overdoses in 2022. The Drug Enforcement Administration issued a warning in March about a sharp increase in xylazine being mixed with fentanyl.

Ginter’s partner told police she returned home to find him unresponsive. Police said in court papers they found communication about drugs on Ginter’s phone between him and Todaro. Investigators used a neighbor’s doorbell camera and license plate readers to determine an SUV registered to Todaro’s family recently had been driven to Ginter’s home.

Todaro did not have an attorney listed in online court records. A preliminary hearing is set for Dec. 20. He was being held at the Westmoreland County Prison.

Ginter was a family man who enjoyed collecting action figures, watching scary movies and wrestling and playing video games, according to his obituary. He is survived by his partner and three children.