Concord, NH – Attorney General Gordon J. MacDonald and Wakefield Police Chief John Ventura announce that on Tuesday, March 24, 2020, Justin Stripp, age 39, pleaded guilty and was sentenced in the Carroll County Superior Court for Dispensing a Controlled Drug (fentanyl) – Death Resulting in connection with the overdose death of Lucas Shackford, age 23.

Mr. Stripp was charged with dispensing fentanyl to Mr. Shackford on January 3, 2018, which Mr. Shackford ingested and which caused him to overdose.

On the charge of dispensing a controlled drug – death resulting, Mr. Stripp was sentenced to 7-14 years in the New Hampshire State Prison, with 2 years suspended from the minimum portion of his sentence. Mr. Stripp will also have the opportunity to earn an additional 1 year off the minimum portion of sentence if certain conditions are met.

This successful investigation and prosecution was the result of the joint efforts of the Wakefield Police Department, the United States Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Attorney General's Drug Task Force, with assistance from the New Hampshire Department of Justice's Drug Prosecution Unit. Senior Assistant Attorney General Danielle Sakowski prosecuted this case.