NORTH HAVERHILL — A grand jury has indicted a 47-year-old man who was extradited from Virginia to New Hampshire on felony charges related to fentanyl that police say resulted in a Lebanon man’s death.
Ora Labrake, who court documents say is from Windsor, faces three felony charges — including drug sale with death resulting, drug sale of less than half an ounce of fentanyl and possession — in connection with the 2024 overdose death of 39-year-old Cory MacElman.
The Lebanon Police Department issued an arrest warrant for Labrake in June 2024, police said in a news release earlier this month. It followed an investigation into a suspected drug sale in April 2024 that police say resulted in MacElman’s death.
It took until March of this year for Labrake to be located in Virginia, taken into custody and extradited back to New Hampshire, the news release said.
Lebanon Police Chief Phillip Roberts was not immediately available for comment on Wednesday.
On April 17, a Grafton County grand jury indicted Labrake on the three charges related to MacElman’s death. He is currently being held in Grafton County jail in North Haverhill pending his arraignment in May.
Police allege that Labrake acted in concert with 43-year-old Steven Gillingham, of Orange, who was sentenced in January 2025 to three to six years in state prison on charges of felony drug sale with death resulting and sale of less than one gram of fentanyl.
Gillingham was paroled earlier this month, according to the inmate locator website Vinelink.
Police linked Labrake and Gillingham to MacElman’s death through phone records that revealed communications among the three men, the affidavit in support of the charges states.
Additionally, the affidavit alleges that Gillingham admitted that he and MacElman traveled together to the Target Plaza in West Lebanon the day MacElman died to “meet Gillingham’s source of supply of fentanyl, later identified as Labrake,” who was working as a DoorDash driver and asked them to meet as he was picking up an order from Chili’s.
In June 2024, the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner determined MacElman’s cause of death was “acute fentanyl intoxication,” the affidavit states.
“Based on this report, it (was) apparent MacElman’s death was caused by use of fentanyl obtained from Labrake and Gillingham,” according to police.
Voicemails left for Gillingham’s attorney in the case, Cabot Teachout, and Labrake’s attorney, Adam Hescock, were not immediately returned.
Reached by phone on Wednesday, Janet MacElman, Cory’s mother, declined to comment.
MacElman graduated from Lebanon High School in 2002 and also attended the Hartford Area Career and Technology Center in White River Junction, and went on to work at the Co-op Service Center in Hanover, according to his online obituary.
“Cory enjoyed cars, trucks, motorcycles, and camping,” the obituary said. “He was a great mechanic and could fix anything with a motor. He had a huge heart and would help anyone with anything when asked.”
Labrake is scheduled for an arraignment in Grafton Superior Court in North Haverhill on Monday, May 11, at 9 a.m.
