Albert Lea Man Charged in Fatal Overdose of Teenager

HASTINGS, Minn. (AP) — An Albert Lea man is accused of providing methadone pills to a teenager who died of an overdose in the Twin Cities in February.

Twenty-six-year-old Dustin Chenevert was charged Wednesday in Dakota County with third-degree murder. Prosecutors say he sold methadone and other pain pills to 18-year-old Colton Poplow, also of Albert Lea.

Poplow died in a South St. Paul hotel room on February 28th. Authorities say he had taken methadone the night before, swallowing a few pills in a panic because he feared police were coming to check for drugs.

According to the charges, investigators learned he had bought both methadone and Dilaudid, another prescription painkiller, from Chenevert.

The St. Paul Pioneer Press reports Chenevert is serving a prison sentence for a drunken-driving offense.