- April 18, 2024
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Javian Neesmith, 22, was sentenced to 15 years in state prison on March 1 after pleading no contest to a reduced charge of manslaughter for selling the fentanyl that led to the overdose death of Dimitry Popkov, 39, in September 2020.
Neesmith, a Palm Coast resident, had originally been charged with first-degree murder.
Neesmith also pled no contest to possession of a Schedule 4 substance, driving while license suspended, possession of a Schedule 2 substance with intent to sell, and unlawful use of a two-way communication device, and received concurrent four-year sentences on each additional charge.
The FCSO Special Investigations Unit conducted an undercover operation in September 2020 following Popkov's death, and were able to confirm that Neesmith had supplied the drugs that killed him.
“I want to thank the Grand Jury, State Attorney Larizza, and all the detectives for their excellent work in obtaining this arrest and conviction,” Sheriff Rick Staly said. “The poison sold to the victim by Neesmith took his life. Let this be a reminder to drug dealers to keep your poison out of Flagler County and know that we investigate every overdose death as a murder! Kill someone selling your poison and you will join him and other poison peddler killers in prison for a very long time.”
Neesmith was initially arrested by the FCSO Special Investigations Unit and Major Case detectives during an undercover operation and has been in custody since the arrest in September 2020.
On Jan. 20, 2021, he was arrested for the additional charge of first-degree murder by unlawful distribution of a controlled substance. He is being held at the Sheriff Perry Hall Inmate Detention Facility under no bond until his transfer to the Florida Department of Corrections to start his prison sentence.
