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U.S. Attorney's Office Indicts 5 In Fatal Heroin Overdoses

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The U.S. Attorney's Office charged five men Friday who are accused of selling heroin to drug users who died from overdoses.

It's a rarely used law and hard to prosecute, but U.S. Attorney David Hickton is willing to try.

Three men, 56-year-old Richard Toland, 58-year-old Edward Skine and 54-year-old Anthony McCullough, all of Pittsburgh, have been indicted for selling heroin that killed a 47-year-old man in an Oakland hotel.

The U.S. Attorney wants someone held accountable.

"If you kill someone by distributing heroin, we will charge you and hold you responsible for their deaths," said Hickton.

In another case, 26-year-old Antonio Rutherford of Bloomfield is charged with selling heroin that killed a 26-year-old man.

And in a third case, 22-year-old Andrew Micheli of Bridgeville is accused of selling the heroin that killed a 20-year-old woman.

"We are at full tilt in our efforts to identify and dismantle drug trafficking organizations and prosecute their members to the full limits of the law," Hickton said.

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