Following a request from his attorney Michael Cutthoff, Daequon Forte was granted modified bond Wednesday in Christian County Circuit Court — with other specifications delivered by Circuit Judge Andrew Self.
Those being: to post 10% of a $25,000 bond in cash, accept being fitted with a GPS ankle monitor, reside with his mother in Clarksville while awaiting trial, and assume the standard non-financial conditions leading up to jury selection.
Furthermore, due to special conflict, a new prosecutor will replace Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie Bolen.
Self told Forte that his release didn’t mean guilt or innocence. And currently, he is charged with second-degree manslaughter and first-offense trafficking in a controlled substance, carfentanil and/or fentanyl derivatives. Both are Class C felonies, which can result in concurrent or consecutive prison terms of 5-to-10 years.
Carfentanil is a synthetic opioid, often found as a white powdery substance resembling cocaine or heroin, and it’s often mixed with heroin to effectively lace the drug. It is 10,000 times more potent than morphine per dose, and 100 times stronger than fentanyl.
Often used to tranquilize large mammals, especially elephants, it poses a significant threat to first responders and law enforcement personnel who touch the drug by accident or in transaction. It’s easily overdosed, and in certain cases can render the anti-overdose drug Narcan ineffective.
Exposed users can experience at minimum dizziness, clammy skin and shallow breathing. At maximum, it initiates heart failure.
Cutthoff told the court that an indicted co-defendant in this case also remains unserved.
Forte must refrain from drug and alcohol abuse, and will be back in jail following any positive drug screen henceforth until the trial.
