Woman charged in fatal fentanyl overdose of Marengo man in custody

A 36-year-old woman who was wanted on a $500,000 arrest warrant in connection with a fatal overdose of a 39-year-old Marengo man is in custody at the McHenry County Jail, according to jail records.

Melissa M. Ryan was taken into custody on Friday, nearly two weeks after the arrest warrant was issued.

On an affidavit requesting a public defender, Ryan wrote that she was homeless, but she also listed an address in the 900 block of Beaver Pond Drive in Marengo, the same address where Michael David Mancuso was found dead from a fentanyl overdose on July 16, according a motion filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

Ryan, 36, who also has a DeKalb address listed in court documents, is charged with drug-induced homicide, a Class X felony, as well as manufacturing or delivering a controlled substance, a Class 2 felony; possession of a controlled substance, a Class 4 felony; and possession of drug paraphernalia, a Class A misdemeanor, according to jail records and the criminal complaint filed in the McHenry County courthouse.

The warrant for her arrest was issued Sept. 12, according to court documents.

Ryan is accused of delivering less than a gram of fentanyl to Mancuso mid-July, which he then inhaled and later died from, according to the criminal complaint.

When police and fire personnel arrived at the Marengo home, a bag suspected of containing drugs was found in Mancuso’s hand, according to a motion filed by prosecutors asking Ryan be forced to disclose the source of any bail money. The substance was later tested and found to be fentanyl. Ryan was found in possession of a similar bag of powder that also tested positive for fentanyl.

Phone records show that the two arranged to go together to Rockford that day to purchase narcotics, according to the motion.

Prosecutors allege that Ryan “admitted to witnesses that Mancuso thought he was getting cocaine, but she gave him heroin/fentanyl instead, without him knowing,” according to the motion.

The motion also states bail funds that could be deposited to secure Ryan’s release may not come from legitimate sources or could be tied to narcotics trafficking or some other criminal or illegal activity.

Ryan is due in court for preliminary hearing Wednesday.

Another person, Paul Moser, 63, of that same Marengo address, also has been charged in connection with Mancuso’s death. He was arrested Sept. 17 on Kendall and McHenry county warrants, according to a release from Marengo police.

He owns the home where Mancuso was found dead, McHenry County tax records show.

Moser’s McHenry County warrant is on two counts of aiding and concealing a fugitive, Class 4 felonies, related to the Marengo police investigation. Moser was taken to the McHenry County Jail and has since bonded out, according to the jail log.

Moser is due in court Tuesday.