Dealer gets 6 years for supplying fentanyl
A Columbus man was sentenced Tuesday to six years in prison after admitting that he supplied the fentanyl that killed a resident at a Whitehall nursing home.
Eric Banks, 25, of the Northeast Side, pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and one count of aggravated drug trafficking in the Feb. 10 overdose death of 56-yearold Dale Rogers.
The sentence, recommended by prosecuting and defense attorneys, was imposed by Franklin County Common Pleas Judge Julie M. Lynch. Charges of corrupting another with drugs and a second count of aggravated drug trafficking were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Investigators said Banks went to the Manor at Whitehall, 4805 Langley Ave., and sold fentanyl, a powerful synthetic opioid, to Rogers.
The staff found Rogers unresponsive, started CPR and called 911. Whitehall medics administered Narcan, which can reverse the effects of an opioid overdose, and took him to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Rogers had texted an order for ‘Chinese food,’ “which is slang for heroin, fentanyl or a mixture,” Prosecutor Ron O’Brien said at the time of indictment. Investigators found that Banks was the recipient of the text.
Toxicology tests on Rogers and laboratory work on drugs that investigators found on Banks all came back as fentanyl, O’Brien said.