EXETER, N.H. – Prosecutors have announced that a Dover woman will not face a life sentence for allegedly selling a fatal dose of cocaine to a 52-year-old man in July. Ashley Holt, 40, has been indicted on two counts of selling cocaine, including one count of selling the drug within 1,000 feet of a school zone. Both charges are Class A felonies, carrying a maximum sentence of 7 years in prison.
According to Assistant County Attorney Roger Chadwick, the death-resulting charge was dismissed in November due to the results of the autopsy and other findings. The autopsy ruled out a conviction on the charge, making it impossible for the state to proceed with proving the death-resulting charge beyond a reasonable doubt.
County Attorney Patricia Conway declined to comment further on the open criminal case. Holt is scheduled to be arraigned on the two indictments on January 19 in Rockingham Superior Court in Brentwood. Her attorney, Paul Garrity, was not available for comment. Garrity previously argued during her bail hearing that any cocaine Holt may have sold cannot be linked to the man’s death.
The man was found unresponsive in a home on Court Street on March 9 and was declared deceased at the scene by Exeter police. The officers discovered a plate, cut straw, white powder, and credit card at a nearby desk. A toxicology report later revealed that the cause of death was “acute combined alcohol and cocaine toxicity.”
Holt was identified through a search of the man’s phone, which included a conversation with a contact named “Ashley Coco.” The contact was identified through T Mobile as Holt, and the texts revealed the coordination of a drug sale in Exeter that night. She was arrested on the death-resulting charge and a felony sale of a controlled drug charge.
Garrity argued that the police affidavit shows the cocaine sold by Holt may not have been the only amount of the drug the man consumed that night. He pointed to text messages from the buyer that raised doubts about the potency of the drug. According to the indictments handed down, Holt allegedly sold the cocaine to the man near Phillips Exeter Academy on March 8. If convicted, she faces a jail sentence of 3½ to 7 years in prison on each count.
In conclusion, Ashley Holt, a Dover woman, will not face a life sentence for allegedly selling cocaine that led to a man’s death. The death-resulting charge was dismissed by prosecutors due to the results of the autopsy, and Holt is scheduled to be arraigned on two indictments in January. If convicted, she faces a jail sentence of 3½ to 7 years on each count of selling cocaine.