Alleged drug dealer pleads guilty in overdose death
DOVER – An accused drug dealer has pleaded guilty to charges related to the overdose death of a teen.
Thomas E. Ritchie, 23, of New Philadelphia initially pleaded not guilty in the 2025 death of a 17-year-old New Philadelphia teen and Buckeye Career Center student but changed his plea on Monday.
The felony charges include involuntary manslaughter, aggravated trafficking in drugs, trafficking in cocaine and two counts of corrupting another with drugs.
Judge Michael Ernest says two of those charges carry mandatory 2 to 8 year prison sentences. He says the worst-case scenario for Ritchie would be 31 ½ to 37 years in prison, but the merging of charges by the prosecutor makes that unlikely.
Ernest will sentence Ritchie on June 16.
Tuscarawas County Sheriff’s officials say Ritchie sold cocaine and psychedelic mushrooms to the teen in March of last year. Later, the sheriff’s office responded to a report of an overdose at a party attended by many teenagers in Franklin Township. Officials says the teen died at Akron Children’s Hospital a couple of days later.