Lexington Man Sentenced To More Than 30 Years For Distributing Fentanyl And Heroin Resulting In Death
LEXINGTON, Ky. - A Lexington man has been sentenced to 365 months in federal prison for distributing heroin and fentanyl that resulted in the death of a 29 year-old woman, who had given birth just two weeks before her death.
On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Danny Reeves sentenced 44 year-old Christopher Allen for distributing a controlled substance resulting in death. Under federal law, Allen must serve at least 85 percent of his prison sentence.
In May of this year, a jury convicted Allen of distributing heroin and fentanyl resulting in death, conspiracy to distribute heroin and fentanyl, and possession with intent to distribute heroin and fentanyl.
“It’s hard to imagine a greater issue facing our commonwealth than this opiate crisis that continues to take lives and devastate families,” said Kerry B. Harvey, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky. “The people responsible for these tragedies, like Mr. Allen, have a heavy price to pay for their decision to pedal these poisons. This is a crisis that requires us to use every available tool to fight back. One such tool is our federal law that imposes a prison sentence of 20 years to life, with no parole, on those professional drug dealers and suppliers that sell heroin, fentanyl or other opiates, which result in death or serious bodily injury. We are working closely with our law enforcement partners to find those dealers we consider to be the worst the worst, and apply this law when necessary.”
According to trial testimony, in September of 2015, Allen distributed heroin and fentanyl to Nicole Alvarez, who had given birth to a baby two weeks before her overdose. Alvarez was found by her boyfriend in her home.
Authorities were able to verify that Allen supplied the drugs to Alvarez. A Toxicologist testified that Alvarez died as a result of the toxic effects of the heroin and fentanyl and that the level of fentanyl in her system was three times the therapeutic range.
U.S. Attorney Harvey; Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Division of the Drug Enforcement Administration; and Mark Barnard, Chief of Lexington Police, jointly made the announcement.
The investigation was conducted by the Lexington Police and DEA. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Todd Bradbury and Cindy Rieker prosecuted this case on behalf of the federal government.
