Three men have been indicted on murder charges after prosecutors say they contributed to the overdose death of a Pinellas County Jail inmate in February.
Zachary DeCarlo, 30, Wayne Wilson, 41, and Jason Canady, 43, each face a first-degree murder charge related to the unlawful distribution of fentanyl that officials say resulted in the death of 37-year-old Jesse Stout. According to the indictment, DeCarlo brought the drugs into the jail and sold them to Canady, who, along with Wilson, distributed them to several other inmates, including Stout.
All three men said they had no knowledge of the drugs or the events that took place leading to the overdoses, the indictment states.
Police previously said Stout was found unresponsive in Pod 6 of the jail about 1:45 a.m. on Feb. 11 and was pronounced dead at a hospital a few hours later.
Stout’s overdose came a day after jail staff responded to suspected fentanyl exposure cases in Pod 5 of the jail’s C Barracks. Jail personnel responded about 6:45 p.m. Feb. 10 after four inmates showed exposure symptoms. All four were taken to the hospital. One said that he’d snorted fentanyl, according to the sheriff’s office.
Three others, including Stout, were found hours later in Pod 6.
The indictment chronicled the events leading to the overdoses from several witness descriptions and surveillance video.
On Feb. 2, DeCarlo was arrested on one charge of possession of fentanyl. On the day of his arrest, DeCarlo swallowed fentanyl before entering the Pinellas County Jail and overdosed while in booking. He was taken to a local hospital but was returned to the jail a few days later.
On Feb. 10, deputies heard loud banging coming from one area of the jail, according to the indictment. Accounts from officers inside the jail describe finding multiple inmates in varying levels of distress.
Among the descriptions: One man had turned blue and was not breathing. Another inmate required resuscitation. Another inmate’s eyes had rolled back in his head, and he was given Narcan twice.
Surveillance video from that day showed DeCarlo entering his cell and setting up a blanket to block the toilet area. DeCarlo then took down the blanket and was later seen talking to his cellmate near the toilet.
According to the indictment, DeCarlo had a bowel movement and passed the fentanyl he’d previously consumed.
DeCarlo’s cellmate told investigators that DeCarlo came to him in a panic. DeCarlo showed the witness “two or three white chunks” and said they were fentanyl.
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Explore all your optionsSurveillance video later shows DeCarlo and his cellmate approach Canady. DeCarlo is then seen leaving Canady’s cell with a large bag filled with unknown items and bringing it to his cell.
The indictment states that DeCarlo negotiated a deal with Canady, selling the fentanyl to him in exchange for commissary and $50 via Cash App, according to another witness.
Canady’s cellmate told investigators that Canady showed him about 4 grams of fentanyl and asked him what he should do with it. The witness said he saw Canady break off a piece of the fentanyl, put it into a glove, write a note, wrap it in plastic and pass it off to a trustee — an inmate with work duties that allow them to move more freely inside the jail.
The indictment describes Wilson as a trustee.
The witness “saw Canady go to where the gates were and talk to ‘trustee Wayne’ and when Canady came back, he no longer had the package,” the indictment states.
That afternoon, Canady is seen on video communicating through an open slot of a pod with Stout and another inmate. Video later shows Canady speaking with other inmates, including Wilson, throughout the day.
The indictment states video shows Wilson in the laundry room of the jail with a black glove that he rips apart and appears to tie back together.
According to the indictment, Wilson was the one who ultimately gave the drugs to Stout.
After several people were treated for overdoses, deputies searched portions of the jail, where they found multiple objects containing “powdery substances.” Further testing found several of the items contained fentanyl.
According to the affidavit, a piece of glove was found in the laundry room that contained a substance later determined to be fentanyl.
Pinellas County Sheriff Bob Gualtieri described the incident as an anomaly.
“Contraband in the jail is something we always fight,” Gualtieri said in a phone call with the Tampa Bay Times on Friday. “But there’s nothing here that warrants any systematic changes or process changes or policy changes, because of the nature of what happened.”
Incoming inmates pass through a machine that X-rays their bodies. The machine can typically detect drugs hidden in a person’s body cavities, Gualtieri said. However, because DeCarlo had swallowed the fentanyl, the machine was not able to detect the drugs.
“We looked at it — obviously concerned about it — but we held them accountable and charged them,” Gualtieri said of the three men indicted in the case.
DeCarlo and Wilson remain in custody, according to Pinellas County Jail records. The indictment states they are being held without bond. Florida Department of Corrections records show Canady is in prison on several unrelated Pinellas County charges, including racketeering, burglary and grand theft of a motor vehicle. He was sentenced to a maximum of eight years shortly after the overdoses, on Feb. 29.
Times staff writer Tony Marrero contributed to this report.
