December 20, 2013 at 4:32 p.m.
Final defendant in heroin overdose case enters pleas
Final defendant in heroin overdose case enters pleas
Richard Lewis, 28, of St. Germain, entered no contest pleas in Oneida County Circuit Court Tuesday to felony counts of manufacturing/delivery of heroin and first-degree reckless homicide, and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct as part of a plea deal with the state. One additional felony charge was dismissed.
The felony charges expose Lewis to a maximum possible penalty of more than 50 years in the state prison system, but Oneida County District Attorney Mike Schiek will be recommending 15 years (six years of initial confinement, nine years extended supervision). Recommendations will also be coming from defense counsel and a pre-sentence investigation conducted by the Department of Corrections. Lewis is scheduled for sentencing Feb. 19.
Lewis' co-defendant, Jennifer Heiting, 27, accepted a similar deal in October. She entered no contest pleas to felony counts of possession of narcotic drugs and first-degree reckless homicide. She is scheduled for sentencing Jan. 29. The state will also be recommending a 15-year state prison system term in her case.
Heiting and Lewis have been in custody in the Oneida County jail for approximately one year. They were charged following an investigation prompted by the suspected heroin overdose death of David Stahl at his town of Crescent home last December. The defendants initially faced only drug charges but were later charged with first-degree reckless homicide for allegedly providing the heroin that led to Stahl's death.
The criminal complaint states that, when interviewed by law enforcement, Heiting admitted to arranging the delivery of a package of heroin via FedEx to Stahl's residence the morning of Dec. 8, 2012. Heiting said the package contained approximately 30 bindles of the drug and she gave two bindles to Stahl for accepting the delivery.
When Stahl's body was discovered two days later, investigators found two empty bindles with trace amounts of heroin on a bedside table. The subsequent autopsy and toxicology analysis indicated Stahl died of a heroin overdose. The criminal complaint alleges that Heiting had been scheduling regular shipments of heroin through a source in Illinois since June 2012.
A third defendant, Melissa Wales, 40, was also charged as part of the investigation. Schiek described her as being on the "periphery" and not directly involved in the heroin shipments. She was placed on probation in August as part of a plea deal with the state, but Thursday that probation was revoked. Schiek said not long after being placed on probation, Wales was involved in a domestic incident in St. Germain that included alcohol use and property damage. Schiek also deferred prosecution on a felony count of possession of narcotics in August. Thursday, he reinstated that charge.
"She's violated two of the terms in the agreement," Schiek told the court, noting that one term had been successfully completing probation.
"The state offered her an opportunity to avoid the felony conviction," he added. "She did not take advantage of the opportunity provided to her. Because literally nothing was done on her part to take advantage of the opportunity, I think rescinding the agreement is appropriate."
Wales was sentenced to seven months in jail on the probation revocation. On the reinstated felony count, Schiek asked for three years of probation.
"That way she knows if she gets in trouble again there will be a prison sentence," Schiek said.
"I've been attending AA meetings since I've been back in jail," Wales told the court. "I have had time to think. I apologize to the court. I wasn't using drugs (again) but I was drinking."
"I'll be frank with you. If it only goes three weeks again on the new probation (before a violation) you might be looking at some prison time," Judge Patrick O'Melia told Wales.
She has 134 days of jail credit to apply to her sentence.
Kyle Rogers may be reached at [email protected].
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