U.D. mom enters plea in overdose case
She, hubby saved when son, 4, called for help
MEDIA COURTHOUSE » An Upper Darby woman who was rescued from a heroin overdose with her husband by their 4-year-old son in June entered a guilty plea to theft and endangerment charges Monday.
Sandra DiCianno, 31, entered open guilty pleas to two charges of endangering the welfare of a child, a misdemeanor of the first degree, and possession of a controlled substance, an ungraded misdemeanor. She also pleaded guilty under a separate case to one count of forgery, a felony of the first degree, and one count of theft by unlawful taking, a first-degree misdemeanor.
DiCianno was discovered in the bathroom of the house she shared with 32-year-old Sean Dolhancryk in the 7000 block of Greenwood Avenue a little after 8 p.m. June 7 by Police Officer Robert Bennett, who responded to a call after a neighbor heard the young boy calling for help.
The 4-year-old opened the door and directed Bennett to a bathroom, telling him, “Mommy is upstairs, she is sick.”
Bennett heard gargled breathing coming from inside the bathroom but could not open the door, which was blocked by Dolhancryk’s body. Dolhancryk was “completely blue,” according to Bennett, and DiCianno was curled up on the floor making a gargling noise.
Officer Kevin Donohue arrived and assisted in keeping the boys out of the way until he and Bennett could push the door open. Dolhancryk was pulled out first and administered Narcan, the drug used to counter the effects of opioids. Paramedics also administered Narcan to DiCianno and gave Dolhancryk additional doses of the drug.
The children were taken to a neighbor’s house before being turned over to relatives by Children and Youth Services. Officers later discovered hypodermic needles and other paraphernalia related to heroin use in the bathroom. The parents were treated at a hospital and released to police.
Dolhancryk previously pleaded guilty to two counts of endangering the welfare of children and one count of possessing a controlled substance. He said at sentencing in August that he and DiCianno began using heroin in 2013, but the couple stopped for about two years before his wife reintroduced them to it.
Dolhancryk, represented by defense counsel Matt Sprague, was sentenced to six to 23 months at the county prison in Concord in the heroin case, as well as three consecutive months for a probation violation. He was also given five years of consecutive probation and ordered to comply with the recommendations of a drug and alcohol evaluation.
The theft charges involved four checks totaling $425 that were taken from DiCianno’s former employer, according to the affidavit of probable cause in that case.
The victim was contacted by TD Bank April 11 and asked if Dicianno had authorization to cash checks on his account. He informed the bank that he had not written DiCianno any checks and a fraud investigation was initiated.
The victim also contacted the Lansdowne Police Department, which found four unauthorized checks had been cashed between December 2016 and April 2017. Surveillance photos showed DiCianno cashing each of the checks, according to the affidavit.
The victim told investigators DiCianno would clean his apartment for $10 per hour on an as-needed basis, but he always paid her in cash.
DiCianno was questioned April 17 and initially claimed the victim forgot he had given her the checks because he was intoxicated, but later admitted to stealing the checks and forging the victim’s name, according to the affidavit.
Assistant District Attorney Brian Doherty did not recommend a sentence due to the open nature of the pleas, but defense attorney Nusrat J. Rashid told DiCianno that she faces a maximum 25 years in prison and $65,000 fine in both cases.
Delaware County Court of Common Pleas Judge Richard Cappelli ordered a presentence investigation and drug and alcohol evaluation. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 6.