Thursday, January 26, 2017

Akron dealers charged in deaths by Fentanyl

Vernell Lavon Curry, 28, is charged with involuntary manslaughter and drug trafficking in connection with the June 21, 2016 deaths of Sara White, 25, and Abigail Hackett, 22.

The Summit County Medical Examiner's Office determined that both women died of acute fentanyl toxicity at Hackett's apartment. Heroin and fentanyl overdose deaths continued to claim lives at a stunning pace last year in Northeast Ohio. In Cuyahoga County alone, more than 500 people died after overdosing on heroin, fentanyl or a combination of the two.

Robinson pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge.
She faces a likely prison sentence of between 10 and 12 1/2 years.
An Akron man and woman pleaded guilty Wednesday to a drug case federal prosecutors brought in the wake of a fentanyl overdose that killed a 37-year-old man. Leroy Steele, 37, and Sabrina Robinson, 36, were arrested after Thomas Rauh was found dead in his home. Both obtained fentanyl from a supplier in China and sold the drug in Akron.

Steele pleaded guilty to a drug conspiracy charge and possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. The second charge includes a "death specification," which carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years.