A 43-year-old woman who gave heroin to 17-year-old Olivia Roark in a Groton motel room in May 2016, and waited four hours to call 911 after the teen became unresponsive, pleaded guilty Thursday in U.S. District Court to conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor and possession with intent to distribute heroin.

Adele Bouthillier, arrested in June 2016, was released from prison to undergo drug rehabilitation while her case was pending, but was discharged from a program last month after an altercation with another client, according to court documents. She was ordered detained Thursday after entering her guilty plea.

Groton Town police and fire officials responded to a 911 call on May 29, 2016, and found the teen, who had run away from her parents' home in Griswold, unresponsive on the floor of Room 106 at Flagship Inn & Suites on the Gold Star Highway. First responders gave her two doses of the overdose-reversing drug naloxone and transported her to Lawrence + Memorial Hospital, where she was declared dead.

The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that Roark died of acute fentanyl intoxication.

According to court statements and documents from the investigation, 40-year-old Ramon "B.I." Gomez, who knew Roark was under 18, arranged for her to engage in prostitution and stay with Bouthillier and another woman, Melissa Crickmore, at the motel. Bouthillier, who also knew Roark was a minor, helped the teen advertise her services on backpage.com, according to court documents. 

Bouthillier told investigators that she bought a gram of heroin from Gomez on the morning of May 28 and used it with the teenager. She said awoke at 10 p.m. to find Roark unresponsive with vomit coming out of her mouth. She didn't call 911 until 2:36 a.m. on May 29, according to a police affidavit.

Bouthillier pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking of a minor, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of life, and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

While her case was pending, Bouthillier was released on bond to receive long-term inpatient substance-abuse treatment, according to court documents. On Feb. 8, she was discharged from a program at Trinity Glen in Kent, Conn., after misconduct stemming from an argument with another client, according to a court document.

"During dinner, Ms. Bouthillier admittedly took fruit from the client's tray, placed it into the toilet, and placed it back on a tray," says a Feb. 8 report by her probation officer.

Gomez had remained incarcerated since he was arrested in June 2016. He pleaded guilty on Nov. 17, 2016, and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 6.

Roark's family has since moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C., but has been in contact with a victim advocate in Connecticut. Reached by phone Thursday, her father, Robert Roark, said he had been expecting the guilty plea.

"For two 40-year-olds to prey on a 17-year-old, that's disgusting," he said of the facts of the case.

Roark said he doesn't expect to attend the sentencing hearings of Gomez or Bouthillier, but that he and his wife, Sherry, have written to the judge asking for no leniency.

"I explained that I was robbed of the chance to walk her down the aisle, have her children and my grandchildren and how we wake up every morning missing part of our lives," Robert Roark said.

Sherry Roark wrote to the judge about what Olivia meant to her friends, family, schoolmates and church friends, he said.

"She was stolen from us," Robert Roark said.

The federal government has been prosecuting people as part of an ongoing statewide initiative targeting narcotics dealers who distribute heroin, fentanyl or other opioids that cause death or serious injury to users.

The investigation is being conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations, the Town of Groton Police Department and the Regional Community Enhancement Task Force. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas P. Morabito.

k.florin@theday.com