A Hobart man is charged in a deadly drug deal.
Nickolas Barbato, 32, was charged Wednesday with dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony, dealing in cocaine and two counts of dealing in a narcotic drug, all Level 5 felonies.
He is in custody, held on a $7,500 cash bond.
Alexis Eggleston-Granato, 20, of Crown Point, died Nov. 26, 2024, from an overdose. Toxicology tests found fentanyl, fluorofentanyl and cocaine.
Schererville Police responded around 7 a.m. Nov. 26 to the 8100 block of Victoria Place in Crown Point.
A coroner later found a glass pipe in her sock with a .48-gram bag of heroin and fentanyl.
Eggleston-Granato’s relative told police an at-home drug test around 5 p.m. Nov. 25 was negative.
Videos show Eggleston-Granato left home for about 16 minutes around 10:30 p.m. Nov. 25 to buy drugs. She messaged Barbato to pay $160, to buy $120 in crack, $20 in heroin and give him $20 for gas via CashApp.
Barbato, arriving with his girlfriend, told Eggleston-Granato said she could smoke with “us,” records show.
Eggleston-Granato was the “only customer that OD’d,” the girlfriend later told him in a May jail call.
It was “not her job” to help police if “they can’t figure it out,” he told her.
The woman is not charged in public court filings. Records show police seized and forensically examined Eggleston-Granato’s phone to get the messages setting up the drug deal.
Barbato told the girlfriend to “move his phone.” He was concerned that another woman potentially overdosed, but said it was “probably nothing,” figuring he would have been charged.
He denied to police he knew Eggleston-Granato well, or where she lived.
The girlfriend did not respond to police.
mcolias@post-trib.com
