Formal arraignment for several dozen defendants will be held in Indiana County Court today. One of the names on the court list is that of Dylan Blair of Saltsburg, but his arraignment has been waived.
Blair is charged with two misdemeanors in Indiana County, for possession of a controlled substance and of drug paraphernalia. He faces more serious charges in Westmoreland County, where he will stand trial for drug deliver resulting in death and three counts of manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to deliver drugs.
The 21-year-old Blair is charged with selling the heroin that killed 38-year-old Michelle Spillar at a home in Derry last December. The heroin was spiked with a significant amount of fentanyl. When Westmoreland County sheriff’s deputies tracked Blair down at the Days Inn along Route 22 in Burrell Township on May 23rd, they found not only him, but another man, Edward Russian of Saltsburg, who had overdosed in the bathroom. As they were preparing to administer Narcan, Russian revived.
Blair had been scheduled for trial in Westmoreland County on October, but last Friday Judge Christopher Feliciani granted a continuance and scheduled a status conference for the next available criminal motions court.
