Newark dealer gets 5 years in OD death

NEWARK — A Newark man was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison for providing drugs to another man who overdosed and died this year.

Nickolas Traylor, 29, did not address surviving family members of 22-year-old Chance Harley in attendance, nor offer a statement in Licking County court after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter and a halfdozen other drug-related counts, including corrupting another, trafficking in cocaine and possession of that drug and heroin.

A fine of more than $20,000 was waived by the court because Traylor does not have the means to pay it.

Newark police and emergency responders found Harley unresponsive March 1 at a Newark home. He was pronounced dead of a suspected drug overdose that was confirmed by an autopsy.

Officers recovered cocaine with fentanyl and carfentanyl, a gun and cash from Traylor, who also admitted deleting electronic messages about drug sales, according to documents.

“Nickolas Traylor was determined to be the individual that supplied the drugs and subsequently admitted to law enforcement to selling the drugs,” Assistant Prosecutor Cliff Murphy told Common Pleas Judge David Branstool.

Traylor admitted to all seven felony charges against him Tuesday and faced a mandatory prison term of at least four years.

Harley’s mother, Traci Cunningham, tearfully described her son as an honest, caring and loving person and “a true friend to many people.”

Cunningham wept through her statement before Traylor’s sentencing, describing the “void that’s there since my son’s gone.”

“The emptiness overwhelms me,” she said. “At times, it takes my breath away. I find little joy in life anymore.”