Hide Article Text (OCR)
Man sentenced to 8 years in fentanyl overdoseBy Colin CampbellStaff writerToward the end of his sentencing hearing Monday in Annapolis, Gabriel DelValle turned and spoke directly to the family of the man he’d sold a lethal dose of fentanyl.“Drug addiction got the best of us,” said the 38-year-old Halethorpe man, dressed in dark green prisoner’s scrubs, leg shackles and white tennis shoes.As he spoke, Donna King, the mother of the victim, Chris King, 27, stood up and walked out of the courtroom in tears. King’s brother, Louis King Jr., stared hard at DelValle and shook his head in palpable anger.“I’m very sorry this happened. ... I’m ashamed, but this disease is killing us,” DelValle continued. “I wish it was my life instead of Chris’.”Anne Arundel County Circuit Courtservice per year for five years.“I’ve struggled with this case, I really have,” Wachs said. “I’ve given it a lot of thought”Prosecutors unsuccessfully had sought involuntary manslaughter charges against DelValle in King’s death for selling what he thought was heroin to a fellow addict.Wachs found DelValle not guilty on those charges last month, a blow to State’s Attorney Wes Adams’ strategy of pursuing harsher sentences for those who sell fatal doses of illegal drugs.King was found dead of an apparent drug overdose in the 100 block of Homeland Road in Pasadena in January 2017. When DelValle was arrested in October, Anne Arundel County police said he sold King the fentanyl at a Royal Farms in Baltimore.Assistant State's Attorney Jason Knight requested a 20-year sentence with all but 15 years suspended, “the only appropriatein the chest, sending him to the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center for treatment.“His behavior is not going to change,” Knight said. “If he was still out there, he’d still be using and still be providing his DelValle poison to oilier people inAnne Arundel County.” Donna King told the judge she had to quit her job to take care of her 6-year-old grandson, who is now fatherless. She asked for the maximum possible sentence, “so that no other family has to go through what we go through every day.”Assistant Public Defender Caitlin O’Donnell told the story of DelValle’s 17-year addiction and his arrangement with King — in which DelValle would drive to Baltimore, pick up heroin and split it with King, whoDelValle easily could have been the one who died.“Had they split it the other way around, it could have been him,” she said.Wachs noted that there was no evidence DelValle knew the drug was fentanyl.“If I thought for a second the defendant knew it was fentanyl, the sentence would be very different,” he said.The judge, who previously had suggested that the General Assembly introduce legislation establishing criminal charges for drug dealing that leads to a death, reiterated that suggestion Monday.“The sentencing guidelines don’t seem to match up with this case,” he said.King’s family said they were upset DelValle’s sentence wasn’t longer. They plan to pursue legislative action in the General Assembly to address the issue, his brother said outside the courtroom after the hearing.
Newspaper Details
Annapolis Evening Capital
Annapolis, Maryland, US
Tue, Jul 24, 2018
Page 5
Full Page
Clipped by
Library O.
USA 05 Mar 2022
Other Publications Near Annapolis, Maryland
Capital Gazette
Annapolis Maryland Republican And State Capital Advertiser
Annapolis Maryland Republican
Annapolis Capital Gazette
Maryland Gazette
