TOLEDO — Three people face federal charges connected to the April death in Auglaize County of a 36-year-old man whose estranged wife allegedly gave him a fatal overdose of a powerful drug, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
A federal grand jury delivered a six-count indictment, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Michelle M. Baeppler announced Thursday afternoon.
Amanda Hovanec, 35, of Wapakoneta, and Anthony Theodorou, 34, of Pretoria, South Africa, face charges of conspiracy to import a controlled substance, importation of a controlled substance, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute a controlled substance and distribution of a controlled substance. Each of those charges carries enhanced penalties because of the death.
Amanda Hovanec’s mother, Anita Green, 61, of Wapakoneta, was charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact.
Timothy Hovanec, 36, of Herndon, Virginia, died April 24.
According to the indictment, in February through March, Amanda Hovanec and Theodorou conspired to import Etorphine, also known as M99, a controlled substance, from South Africa into the United States. Federal investigators previously said Timothy Hovanec was killed through the injection of a lethal dose of the controlled substance into his shoulder.
Amanda Hovanec, Green and Theodorou were arrested April 28 after the body of Timothy Hovanec was found in rural Auglaize County near Waynesfield.
According to an arrest affidavit, the substance was shipped to Amanda Hovanec from South Africa by Theodorou, with whom she had developed a relationship while she and her husband were in that country for Timothy’s work with the U.S. Department of State.
Timothy Hovanec had returned the couple’s children to her rural Wapakoneta home from a visitation. Amanda allegedly pulled Timothy to the ground and held him down until his body went limp. The affidavit then alleges that Green later drove Amanda and Theodorou to a wooded area at the corner of Blank Pike and Wrestle Creek Road to bury the body.
Amanda Hovanec will be arraigned at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, June 2, via video conference in front of Magistrate Judge Darrell A. Clay. Theodorou’s arraignment will be at 10 a.m. Thursday, followed by Green’s at 10:30 a.m. Thursday.
