Columbia Man Indicted for Distributing Heroin to a Minor who may have Died from Overdose

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was indicted by a federal grand jury today for distributing heroin to a 16-year-old minor who died of a suspected heroin overdose.

Jon Patrick Washington, also known as “Doom,” 27, of Columbia, was charged in a single-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City, Mo. Today’s indictment replaces a federal criminal complaint that was filed against Washington on May 7, 2014. Washington remains in federal custody.

Today’s indictment alleges that Washington distributed heroin to a minor on April 2, 2014.

According to an affidavit filed in support of the original criminal complaint, Columbia police officers responded to a suspected heroin overdose death at the Providence Suites, 1718 N. Providence Rd., in Columbia on April 3, 2014. The victim was a 16-year-old female. A confidential informant later reported that the heroin had been supplied by Washington and another person.

The Boone County Medical Examiner has not released an official cause of death.

Dickinson cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony P. Gonzalez. It was investigated by the Columbia, Mo., Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri State Highway Patrol.