Ron Welch
Muskingum County Prosecutor
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, December 29, 2022
Drug dealer behind multi-victim overdose sentenced to prison
A Zanesville man who sold cocaine laced with fentanyl that resulted in a multi-victim overdose involving five victims was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Wednesday.
Garland Lewis, 22, previously pleaded guilty in Muskingum County Common Pleas Court to five second-degree felony counts of corrupting another with drugs.
Lewis’ co-defendant, 24-year-old Chad Kennedy, pleaded guilty to one second-degree felony count of corrupting another with drugs after helping Lewis to arrange the sale of drugs.
Kennedy received a sentence of three years in prison.
On April 16, 2022, Muskingum County Deputies and EMT’s responded to the South Zanesville area for a multi-victim overdose involving three juveniles and two young adults.
Fortunately, all of the victims survived the overdose situation, after life-saving medical effort.
Tests later confirmed that each of the five individuals had overdosed on fentanyl. Each also tested positive for cocaine.
Following an investigation led by Detective Brad Shawger of the Muskingum County Sheriff’s Office, the Court heard the facts of the case, including Lewis’ repeated sales of drugs from his Baker Street home, as well as the final transaction which occurred at the Lazy River Lounge on SR 555.
“Although we argued for a longer sentence to both incapacitate and address the danger Lewis poses to the community, 15 years is a serious sanction,” Assistant Prosecutor John Litle said. “Every time a person uses street drugs, they accept the risk that they may overdose. Lewis’ case adds to the record that in Muskingum County, every time a drug dealer sells a drug, they run the risk of spending a decade and a half in prison.”
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