A Kutztown resident pleaded guilty on Thursday, June 26, 2025, to charges stemming from the 2022 overdose death of a 62-year-old man in a Springfield Township apartment and was sentenced to a state correctional institution.

William Randall Wright, 39, appeared before Common Pleas Judge Wallace H. Bateman Jr., admitting to selling the deadly drugs that killed Steven Newhart. His negotiated plea included drug delivery resulting in death, criminal use of a communication facility, and involuntary manslaughter.

Before sentencing, Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon provided the judge statements from Newhart’s children, which detailed the impact of losing him. His daughter wrote, “I do not wish this pain on anyone.”

Wright also read a statement before Judge Bateman delivered the sentence: four to 15 years in state prison, along with a concurrent 12 years of probation.

Wright was arrested on June 18, 2024, almost two years after Newhart’s death.

On June 19, 2022, the day after Father's Day, Springfield Township police responded to a report of a possibly deceased man at the Scenic View Apartments in the 2000 block of Scenic View Lane and found Newhart dead.

Newhart's children told police they last spoke to him the previous night and disclosed their father struggled with drug and alcohol abuse. An autopsy determined Newhart's death was accidental, caused by a combination of drugs including cocaine and fentanyl.

Detectives quickly focused on Wright as a suspect. He had lived across from Newhart, and a witness confirmed Newhart had visited Wright's apartment multiple times, including the day before his death.

A forensic analysis of Newhart’s cell phone revealed numerous drug-related messages between him and a phone number associated with Wright, dating back to 2021. Bucks County Detectives obtained a search warrant for Wright’s cell phone and a forensic examination uncovered more than 150,000 instant messages that referenced drug activity.

This intensive investigation, led by Bucks County Detectives and the Springfield Township Police Department, culminated in Wright’s prosecution by Deputy District Attorney Thomas C. Gannon.

Media Contact: Manuel Gamiz Jr., 215.348.6298, mgamiz@buckscounty.org