La Plata, MD – Sean Michael Allen, 26 of Indian Head, became the second distributor of heroin in Charles County to be sentenced to prison inside of a week when visiting Charles County Circuit Court Judge Eric Nyce sentenced the dealer to 10 years Wednesday, Jan. 18 in La Plata.
Nyce sentenced Allen, arrested last April for distribution with intent to distribute heroin, to 20 years. The judge suspended all but 10 years of the sentence and tacked on another four years concurrent to that sentence for possession of a regulated firearm.
The judge added four more years concurrently for a 2013 possession of oxycodone charge.
Allen was awarded five years of supervised probation upon his release.
Samantha Nicole Thomas, 33 of Waldorf, was sentenced Tuesday, Jan. 17 to 16 years for attempting to smuggle heroin into the Charles County Detention Center last year.
Sandra Wade, whose son Christopher died from a drug overdose allegedly provided by Thomas, said that while Allen was not associated with Thomas, he too provided someone with drugs that proved fatal.
“[Allen] is responsible for another mother losing her son,” Wade said. “At the time, police were still responding to overdoses without an investigator. She knew [of Allen] through his phone. Police later asked for his phone but it had already been given to another relative to use.”
Charles County States Attorney Tony Covington said that while heroin deaths statewide have nearly doubled, some lives are being saved by police officers who are now provided with narcon, a drug which counteracts heroin overdoses.
“We are reviving some people,” he said.
Covington also admitted that lawmakers had advanced warning.
“We saw it years ago, what was coming,” he added. “It definitely looks like it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”
Originally posted at The BayNet: http://www.thebaynet.com/articles/0117/second-heroin-dealer-in-a-week-sentenced-to-prison.html.