The Hawaii Community Correctional Center inmate who survived a fentanyl overdose in the facility on Jan. 4 was revived by a dose of naloxone, also known as Narcan.
Court documents filed by police identify that inmate as Dwight Gardner, 33, of Hilo, who was unable to make $2,100 bail on charges of violating terms of release and contempt of court.
Gardner and 56-year-old Steve Delgado of Pahoa were cellmates of 41-year-old Izaiah Matthew Shields, who is accused of smuggling more than 2 ounces of fentanyl — a synthetic opioid painkiller authorities say is 50 times stronger than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine — into the jail.
Delgado died of an overdose of the drug the following day at Hilo Medical Center.
Gardner told police, according to documents, that Delgado found the drugs in the mattress of Shields, who had been transported to court in Kona earlier in the day. Gardner reportedly told officers he ingested the drug thinking it was cocaine.
Police found more than 2 ounces of fentanyl, much of it packaged in “condoms which contained ball-shaped items wrapped in plastic,” on the mattress, the documents state. It’s unclear how Shields — who’d had another 2 ounces of fentanyl confiscated from him when he and his 37-year-old girlfriend, Moriah Goulette, arrived in Kona from San Francisco on Dec. 29 — concealed the drugs smuggled into the jail.
Both Gardner and Delgado — who was incarcerated in lieu of $26,000 bail on first-degree burglary and fourth-degree theft charges — were found unresponsive in their cell.
Delgado was scheduled to appear in Hilo District Court today on those charges. He also has open cases in Hilo Circuit Court on charges of second-degree theft, third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and marijuana possession, and had a hearing date of Jan. 26 for those charges.
Shields — who already was facing charges of first-degree promotion of a dangerous drug and attempted second-degree promotion of a dangerous drug for the Dec. 29 bust — was additionally charged with first- and third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug, plus first-degree promotion of prison contraband.
After the overdose incident, authorities also searched Goulette, who was incarcerated on suspicion of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug for the same incident Shields was in jail awaiting trial for.
According to court documents filed by police, a pat-down of Goulette at HCCC produced 0.29 grams of fentanyl found in a pocket. During a strip-search, Goulette allegedly spat a zip-type packet with white-colored substance into a toilet. Tests on that revealed it was 0.71 grams of fentanyl. In all, the search of Goulette yielded a gram of the drug.
Goulette additionally was charged with first-degree promotion of prison contraband and two counts of third-degree promotion of a dangerous drug.
Both Shields and Goulette appeared separately Wednesday in Hilo District Court for a scheduled preliminary hearing.
Jeremy Butterfield, Shields’ court-appointed defense attorney, told Judge Jeffrey Hawk that while preparing for the prelim, Butterfield found he had a conflict of interest, because he represents one of the witnesses in the case and requested to withdraw from representing Shields.
Hawk granted Butterfield’s request and rescheduled Shields’ prelim for Jan. 17 to allow Shields time to obtain legal representation.
Deputy Prosecutor Woodrow Pengelly told Hawk that Goulette had been charged via information — a procedure in which prosecutors bring their evidence to a judge to determine if probable cause exists to take the case to trial. The information charge renders the preliminary hearing unnecessary and moves Goulette’s case to Hilo Circuit Court, where she’ll appear for arraignment and plea once she’s rearrested on the information warrant.
Hawk set a “control date” of Jan. 24 for Goulette to return. That hearing will only happen if Goulette hasn’t been arraigned in Circuit Court by then.
Email John Burnett at jburnett@hawaiitribune-herald.com.
