Murder, homicide charges dropped in Greene plea deal
Gump pleads no contest to delivering drugs that led to fatal overdose
Murder and homicide charges were dismissed against a Waynesburg woman in a plea deal reached just before she was scheduled to stand trial for providing fentanyl-tainted drugs to a man who died from an overdose.
Tiffany Gump, 29, pleaded no contest Thursday morning to drug delivery resulting in death, as well as misdemeanor charges of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, recklessly endangering another person and possession of drug paraphernalia.
In exchange, charges of first-degree murder and conspiracy to commit criminal homicide were dropped.
“It takes the possibility of life without parole off the table completely, and plus, we have information in evidence that Ms. Gump was not complicit in any homicide of Taylor Arthur,” said Gump’s attorney, James Jeffries.
District Attorney Brianna Vanata was unavailable for comment Friday.
Gump, along with Jake Finogle, was arrested in June 2024 on charges of intentionally providing marijuana laced with traces of fentanyl to Arthur, 25.
Arthur’s body was found along the train tracks near the 800 block of East Greene Street in Waynesburg on June 19, 2024.
During Gump’s preliminary hearing, a Waynesburg officer testified Gump had admitted to knowing there was fentanyl in the marijuana provided to Arthur. Interviewed by the same officer, Finogle reportedly admitted to knowing the fentanyl was present, and unlike Gump, actively placing it in the marijuana.
Jeffries said Arthur’s family agreed with the plea deal. One of Arthur’s relatives gave a statement to Judge Jeffrey Grimes acknowledging she believed Gump did not kill Arthur, and that she was “basically coerced into whatever she did,” Jeffries said.
Had the matter gone to trial, Jeffries said he believes Gump would have been acquitted of the homicide charges. A defense witness who examined her determined Gump had an IQ of 62, Jeffries said, putting her at a functional level between a third- and a fifth-grader.
“Our expert was going to testify that based upon her low IQ, her current PTSD and the current history of her being abused in that tent city over by McDonald’s where they were living that she was easily manipulated and coerced into doing — or even unwittingly doing — things that she didn’t even know was was leading to anybody’s death,” he said.
No sentence date was set, and the plea agreement did not contain any stipulations on the length of the sentence on the remaining charges. Grimes ordered the Greene County Adult Probation Office to prepare an expedited pre-sentence investigation.
Gump and Finogle were originally slated to stand trial together, but their cases were separated late last year.
Finogle is still scheduled to go to trial on charges including first-degree murder and homicide. His pretrial hearing is scheduled for Feb. 3.