Sepulveda Man Pleads Guilty in Drug Death

A 31-year-old Sepulveda man pleaded guilty Thursday to involuntary manslaughter in the drug-related death of a friend he had supplied with heroin.

Richard Mark Yarchover was charged with second-degree murder in the May 23 death of Stanley Blair, 37, of Canoga Park but agreed to plead guilty to the lesser offense.

He could receive a maximum of four years in state prison when he is sentenced Oct. 14 by Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Richard A. Adler.

Yarchover told police that Blair collapsed minutes after injecting the drug in Yarchover’s apartment, according to Deputy Dist. Atty. Lloyd M. Nash. Yarchover said he dragged Blair’s body out of the apartment and dumped it in an alley, then placed an anonymous telephone call summoning police, Nash said.

The victim’s father linked him to Yarchover and, under police questioning, Yarchover admitted that he had given the drugs to Blair, Nash said.

The plea bargain was offered, Nash said, because prosecutors lacked proof that the death resulted directly from an overdose.

Coroner’s officials attributed the death to heart failure and said a heroin overdose was a factor. However, because the victim had a history of medical problems, they could not conclude that the drugs alone killed Blair, Nash said.