On Friday, December 13th, 2024, 51-year old Shelby Vantassel of Cloverdale, was convicted after pleading No Contest to the charges of Criminal Negligent Homicide and Manufacturing/Delivery of a Controlled Substance. A No Contest plea is when a defendant in a criminal prosecution accepts the conviction but does not admit guilt. Mr. Vantassel still awaits his sentencing. These charges are a culmination of a months-long investigation stemming from an overdose in which a 47-year-old man from Pacific City died in January of 2024. An autopsy revealed the cause of death to be “acute combined drug toxicity (fentanyl, cocaine, methamphetamine).”
Vantassel was arrested on May 22, 2024 during a search warrant service on his residence and property in Cloverdale, as first reported by TCSO in a May 30, 2024 Facebook post. Approximately 100 grams methamphetamine, 14 grams of fentanyl, crack cocaine, scales and packaging materials were seized at that time. “This was a multi-agency effort. I want to thank our partnering agencies, Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office and Lincoln City PD, for all their assistance in preventing the further spread of fentanyl,” said lead investigator, TCSO Detective Kris Wood.
“Fentanyl is so dangerous and so addictive, if it’s not removed from our small communities, it will destroy them. We will continue to focus our efforts on the dealers that are putting these deadly drugs on our streets and we will continue to hold them accountable.” “I want to applaud the work of Detective Kris Wood in leading this investigation, and also Detective Martin Zepeda and all of the other law enforcement officers that assisted, along with District Attorney Aubrey Olson for taking on this important case,” said TCSO Detective Sgt. Michelle Raymond in TCSO’s original post in May. Tillamook 911, Tillamook Police, Oregon State Police, Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, Lincoln City Police and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office all assisted with this extensive investigation.
Some additional background information:
In the late 1980’s, a federal law was passed providing severe penalties to drug dealers when someone that they provided drugs to, died from those drugs. It is commonly referred to as the Len Bias law, named after University of Maryland basketball player, Len Bias. Bias died two days after being selected by the Boston Celtics with the second overall pick in the 1986 NBA draft, Bias died from cardiac arrhythmia induced by a cocaine overdose.
In the past, Oregon lead the nation in prosecuting Len Bias-type cases, but that all but stopped in recent years, specifically after Measure 110 was enacted. Measure 110 decriminalized user amounts of deadly controlled substances. Recently passed HB4002 A repeals/reforms Measure 110, and law enforcement agencies are now able to investigate and refer more controlled substance cases to their District Attorney for prosecutorial consideration.
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