Maryland drug dealer held accountable for user’s fatal overdose

When it comes to the legal consequences that come along with drug crimes, some might be surprised to find out the extent to which a drug dealer could be held accountable.

Sure, it’s pretty much common knowledge that drug distribution in Baltimore, throughout Maryland and the country is against the law. Did you know that if you sell illegal drugs to someone and either they or someone else dies from those drugs that you can be blamed for the death?

A Baltimore report explains how one 26-year-old Maryland man has been targeted as the cause of a Boonsboro man’s fatal drug overdose. The defendant reportedly had access to morphine and methadone from his hospital job, took and distributed the drugs to one person.

That person turned around and traded the morphine and methadone for marijuana, and the man who exchanged the pot for the pain drugs then reportedly sold them to a 29-year-old user. That user used the morphine and methadone and, tragically, suffered a fatal overdose.

Last Friday, more than three years after the hospital employee took and distributed the drugs, a judge sentenced him to nearly 10 years in prison. Specifically, the drug crime defendant was charged with and pleaded guilty to distributing and conspiring to distribute morphine and methadone, leading to the victim’s overdose death.

Reportedly, this isn’t the first case in Maryland in which a drug crime suspect has been held liable for a user’s death. If you are convicted of dealing drugs and the product can be connected to a person’s death, therefore, you could be facing serious prison time.

Source

The Herald Mail: “Hagerstown man sentenced in drug death,” Andrew Schotz, 29 Apr. 2011