Man charged in 2021 North Whitehall overdose death, DA and state police say

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A man was arraigned on Thursday in a 19-year-old’s 2021 drug overdose death in North Whitehall Township.

Dennis Allen Yenser Jr., who court records say lives in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania, faces a half-dozen felony and misdemeanor charges.

Yenser, 48, was arrested on April 21 in Center Valley, nearly two years after he allegedly delivered methamphetamine and two other pills to the victim, Chase Elliot Frable, on Aug. 18, 2021, according to a news release from Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin and Capt. Derek Koch, of Pennsylvania State Police Troop M in Bethlehem.

Frable on that date contacted Yenser and purchased the drugs in a Lehigh County business parking lot, authorities said. The next day, state police said they responded to a death investigation where Frable was found dead of methamphetamine and fentanyl toxicity inside a home in the 3400 block of Lil Wolf Drive in North Whitehall. His death was ruled accidental by the Lehigh County Coroner’s Office.

Items found in Frable’s possession at the time of his death included a plastic bag with a clear substance that tested positive for methamphetamine and both a pill and residue that tested positive for fentanyl.

According to the release, Yenser absconded from Pennsylvania State Parole multiple times during the investigation, explaining the delay in filing the charges.

Yenser was arraigned before District Judge Jacob E. Hammond on felony charges of drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility and drug possession with intent to deliver (two counts), plus two misdemeanor counts of drug possession.

Yenser’s preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled for June 12 to determine if there is sufficient evidence to send the charges toward trial in Lehigh County Court.

Frable was formerly employed at Blue Mountain Resort, and enjoyed hunting and fishing and playing baseball, according to his obituary.

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Connor Lagore may be reached at clagore@njadvancemedia.com.

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