A 23-year-old Aspen man turned himself in to authorities Thursday morning on charges related to suspicion of dealing heroin.
A warrant for the alleged dealer, Gregory Elston, was issued Monday. He surrendered at the Pitkin County Jail yesterday at 9 a.m. and posted $20,000 bond shortly thereafter.
Elston is likely to face one charge for distribution of heroin, and one for possession of cocaine. Both are felonies that carry maximum prison sentences of 12 years and 18 months, respectively.
Authorities did not report the amount of the drugs — if any — they seized from Elston. Nor did they announce the contents of his arrest warrant, saying it might taint their pursuit of a second suspect in the case.
Aspen police said they issued the warrant for Elston after a six-month investigation into the heroin overdose death of Adam Peterson in Aspen on March 19. They believe Elston sold heroin to Peterson.
“We had to make sure we had all of our ducks in a row,” said Aspen police officer Matt Burg. “You never want to rush on cases like this. And it’s sensitive as a result that somebody died here.”
Elston’s arrest is the third stemming from Peterson’s overdose in a King Street apartment.
In June federal authorities arrested two men in Silverthorne, supposedly having tracked a heroin distribution chain from the Front Range to Aspen. In that case, they arrested Aspen’s Ryan Welgos, 30, for allegedly dealing heroin locally, and Nelson Raul-Gamez, 24, of Aurora, for allegedly supplying him with it.
At that time the federal Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Two Rivers Drug Enforcement Team (TRIDENT) said Welgos sold Peterson the heroin that killed him. It remains unclear whether local authorities will make the same claim against Elston. The district attorney’s office has not charged either man specifically with causing Peterson’s death.
Peterson’s overdose occurred in an apartment owned by Welgos’s parents.
Criminal heroin cases are rare in the Aspen area, where cocaine busts have long been a common phenomenon, and last year only five locals reported using heroin while seeking counseling at the local Right Door treatment center.
Welgos has not yet entered a plea in his case, but remains in custody at the Garfield County Jail and is due to appear next in district court in Glenwood Springs on Oct. 23. He is facing nine heroin-related felony charges.
Elston will appear in district court in Aspen on Monday.
andrew@aspendailynews.com