Man pleads guilty in drug overdose death of Lehigh County man, 19

A Pennsylvania man has pleaded guilty in the 2021 drug overdose death of a 19-year-old man in North Whitehall Township.

As his trial was set to begin Tuesday, Dennis Allen Yenser Jr., 50, of Huntingdon County pleaded guilty to a felony charge of drug delivery resulting in death, according to a news release from Lehigh County District Attorney Gavin Holihan. Yenser was accused of providing the drugs that resulted in the death of Chase Elliot Frable, 19, Aug. 18, 2021, at his home.

Lehigh County Judge Robert L. Steinberg sentenced Yenser, who waived his right to a presentence investigation, to seven to 14 years in state prison. Additional charges against Yenser were withdrawn, Holihan said.

Authorities said Yenser sold methamphetamine and two other pills to Frable a day before his death. The Lehigh County coroner found that Frable died from methamphetamine and fentanyl toxicity, ruling the death accidental. A plastic bag found with Frable tested positive for methamphetamine and fentanyl, authorities said.

Yenser was arraigned on the charges in June 2023, having been on the run until his arrest that April by the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force.

He had faced additional charges, including criminal use of a communication facility; manufacture, delivery or possession of drugs with intent to deliver; and intentional possession of a controlled substance by a person not registered.

The case was investigated by state police Cpl. Chad Burry and prosecuted by Lehigh County Senior Deputy District Attorney Ramma R. Mineo and Chief Deputy District Attorney Kevin McCloskey.

https://www.mcall.com/2025/09/02/north-whitehall-overdose-death-guilty-plea/