The third of three defendants charged in connection with the fatal fentanyl overdose of a Crystal Lake man pleaded guilty Thursday.

Matthew Barfield, 23, of Rockford, entered a guilty plea to unlawful delivery of one to 15 grams of fentanyl, a Class 1 felony, and was sentenced to eight years in prison, according to information in the McHenry County court.

Authorities said three men – Barfield, Jeramee Brown, 23, of Crystal Lake, and Markeeon Neal, 31, of Rockford – were responsible for the overdose of Maximus Herman, 21.

Herman died March 11, 2024, while walking home from Brown’s Crystal Lake apartment, where Herman had ingested fentanyl, Assistant State’s Attorney Brian Miller said during Brown’s detention hearing after his arrest last year.

Brown contacted Barfield to purchase drugs; Barfield then contacted Neal, who was Barfield’s “supplier,” the prosecutor said; Neal and Barfield then went to Brown’s apartment and sold him the powdered narcotic. Barfield told Brown that the powder contained fentanyl and that he should “be careful,” Miller said.

In exchange for Barfield’s guilty plea, a more serious charge of drug-induced homicide – which could have sent him to prison for up to 30 years if he’d gone to trial and been convicted – was dismissed, records show.

He is required to serve half his prison time, followed by one year of mandatory supervised release. He will get credit for 450 days spent in McHenry County jail since his arrest, according to the judgment order signed by Judge Mark Gerhardt.

In January, Brown pleaded guilty to drug-induced homicide and was sentenced to six years in prison, court records show. Neal pleaded guilty in August to an amended charge of unlawful delivery of more than 1 gram of fentanyl and was sentenced to 10 years in prison, according to court records and Northwest Herald reporting.