Douglas Harkins (back) is escorted Monday afternoon from the office of District Justice Ray Zydonik by City of Warren Det. Tony Chimenti as Michael Marshall is escorted by Warren County Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Chuck Fetzeck. Photo by Brian Ferry

WARREN, Pa. — Charges were filed Monday in the 2017 drug-related death of a Warren, Pa., man.

Douglas A. Harkins, 44, of Sugar Grove, Pa.; Cody A. Streit, 27, of Warren; and Michael J. Marshall, 33, of Warren, were each arraigned Monday before District Justice Ray Zydonik in relation to the April 3, 2017, death of Robert Marshall, 24, of Warren.

According to the affidavit of probable cause, Robert Marshall died of acute intoxication of a chemical in a synthetic marijuana — Hypnotic Black Sabbath — allegedly ordered and furnished by Streit and Harkins.

“A young man died approximately a year and 10 months ago from synthetic drugs that were brought to this county,” Assistant District Attorney Cody Brown said. “On behalf of our community; the District Attorney’s Office cannot stand by and allow this to occur to our citizens.”

During interviews with police, according to the affidavit, Harkins said the drugs were delivered to Streit and Streit said the drugs were delivered to Harkins.

Warren County Det. Brian Zeybel escorts Cody Streit to a preliminary arraignment Monday afternoon at District Justice Ray Zydonik's office. Photo by Brian Ferry

According to the affidavit, “Harkins tried some of the (drug) and became very sick” on April 3.

Shortly thereafter, according to the affidavit, Robert Marshall, his mother, her boyfriend, Michael Marshall, Streit and Harkins were at Harkins’ residence.

According to the affidavit, Harkins “packed a pipe of the (drug) with the package name Black Sabbath, and passed the pipe around to the group. The victim smoked the pipe given to him by defendant Harkins and smoked at least two different packed pipes of the Black Sabbath while he was at the residence.”

“The group left the Harkins’ residence and traveled back to” Warren, according to the affidavit. “Upon arrival to the Warren area, co-defendants Streit and Marshall both noticed the victim was not responding to them. It was suggested at that time to take the victim to the emergency room. The victim was not taken at that time because of fear he would get in trouble for being on drugs.”

“At the residence… the victim was not responsive and could not exit the vehicle,” according to the affidavit. “The victim was dragged from the vehicle and then rolled down a hill located next to the residence due to his size.”

“The victim lay in the yard until it was found that he was not breathing,” according to the affidavit. “The co-defendant Marshall contacted neighbors who helped drag the victim into the residence where one of the neighbors began CPR. Another neighbor contacted 911 and authorities were dispatched to the scene. The victim was transported to Warren General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.”

According to the affidavit, Michael Marshall admitted to seeing Robert Marshall in distress and cleaned up his drugs and paraphernalia before responders arrived.

Harkins and Streit face identical charges — drug delivery resulting in death; possession with intent to deliver; conspiracy — possession with intent to deliver; criminal use of a communications facility; and recklessly endangering another person.

If convicted of all charges, the maximum combined sentence for each defendant is 59 years and a fine of $75,000.

Marshall faces charges of possession with intent to deliver; conspiracy — possession with intent to deliver; tampering with physical evidence; and possession of drug paraphernalia.

The maximum possible penalty for Marshall, if convicted on all counts, is 17 years and a fine of up to $37,500.

“The reason that it took close to two years for charges to be filed in this case is due to the complexity of the investigation including the number of people involved and wanting to ensure we had enough evidence such as laboratory analysis to prove these charges,” Brown said.

Zydonik informed each defendant of the charges against him, informed them of their right to representation by an attorney, and informed them of the schedule for their preliminary hearings.

All three hearings are scheduled for 1 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 20.

Zydonik then set bail.

“These are very serious charges,” he said. Bail was set at $250,000 for Harkins, $200,000 for Streit, and $100,000 for Marshall.