Prosecutors say a drug counselor provided her boyfriend clean urine samples and helped him avoid an arrest before he died from a drug overdose.
In an announcement Thursday, Lehigh County District Attorney Jim Martin said 25-year-old Kristianna Belotto, of Bethlehem, is now facing charges of tampering with evidence, obstructing the administration of law and furnishing drug-free urine.
Martin says Allentown police responding to reports of a drug overdose Oct. 28 found 29-year-old Michael Rubery dead with heroin and needles around his body.
Police seized a cellphone found nearby, and investigators uncovered 23,000 text messages between Rubery and a contact named "Tianna Maria" that revealed a romantic relationship between the two, Martin said. Police later determined "Tianna Maria" to be Belotto.
Martin says Belotto, who served as Rubery's drug counselor at an Allentown facility, helped Rubery pass drug tests, informed him about an impending arrest and hid his location from law enforcement after the arrest warrant was issued Oct. 20.
Belotto posted bail Thursday. Court records don't list an attorney who could comment on her behalf.
