Prison terms to send message to drug dealers

In the last month, two greedy drug dealers appropriately were sentenced to prison for selling drugs that killed two Lorain County men in separate incidents.

On April 26, David Andrew Hollis Jr., 27, of Elyria, received 12 years behind bars for selling fentanyl that caused the fatal overdose of a Lorain County man.

Hollis was convicted of involuntary manslaughter for selling the deadly drugs Feb. 21, 2016.

On May 24, Shearo Henry, 69, of Cleveland, learned he will spend five years and six months in prison for selling the drugs that killed 40-yearold Robert “Mike” Montgomery, who lived in Elyria.

Henry pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter, corrupting another with drugs, possessing drug abuse instruments, drug paraphernalia offenses and two counts of trafficking in drugs.

He sold the drugs to Montgomery on March 30, 2016, at his home.

Later that day, police found Henry in a hotel room on Lorain Road along with two females where there was crack cocaine. Crack pipes and torn bags with residue on them also were visibly in the room.

Police also found 3.0 grams of crack cocaine, 2.1 grams of heroin, multiple syringes, multiple crack pipes, digital scales and $1,089 in cash in the room.

Speaking before Henry’s sentence was handed down, Montgomery’s sister Monica McGee tried to give the court an idea of what her brother’s death has done to the family.

McGee said her brother had substance abuse issues, but he was ready to turn his life around. She said his life was taken, along with his chance of getting clean, and becoming the man that he once was.

What Montgomery described that day can be said about many of those addicted to drugs.

She’s right. They can change their lives around, except these drug dealers keep supplying these substances to the users.

Drug dealers likely will say, they are not forcing people to purchase the drugs; they are not holding guns to their heads.

It’s all about money for these criminals and how much of it they can make.

But when will they chose life over money? Do they even have a conscience?

Some may care, and others may not.

We’re pretty convinced that the drug dealers wouldn’t want anyone selling their loved ones drugs.

Death rates from these illicit drugs are spiraling out of control. They have skyrocketed so much that health officials are struggling to find space for treatment for those addicted.

People are dying every day from drug overdoses.

And if they are not dying from the drugs, they are putting others at risk. For instance, when they inject the substances into their bodies with children in the backseats of cars. Or when they are passed out in a drive-thru restaurant with the vehicle running.

These are documented cases, and they are really scary.

The number of overdose deaths in recent years has spiked. It is startling and alarming.

In Lorain County, there were 120 confirmed drug overdose deaths in 2016.

In neighboring Cuyahoga County,the death rates from drug overdoses totaled 666 people last year. And nearly 60 percent — 399 of them — involved fentanyl.

According to a final report released May 24 from Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner Dr. Thomas Gilson, a day before he was scheduled to speak before a U.S. Senate subcommittee, showed skyrocketing numbers of deaths from fatal overdoses.

Heroin and fentanyl — or a combination of the two — were responsible for the deaths of 506 people in Cuyahoga County last year compared to the 475 total homicide, suicide and traffic crash deaths.

To repeat - more people in Cuyahoga County died from heroin and fentanyl overdoses in 2016 than homicides, suicides and traffic crashes combined.

And the drug dealers keep feeding the habits of the addicted.

Incarcerating drug dealers for lengthy prison sentences should send a message.

After Hollis was transported to the penal system last month, acting U.S. Attorney David A. Sierleja sent a message to the community that, “We will continue to aggressively prosecute those who profit from the sale of drugs that have caused so much death and pain in our community. It will take vigorous law enforcement, combined with prevention efforts and making treatment available to those who want help, to turn the tide on the opioid epidemic.”

Hollis and Henry are locked up because of their greed, and the judicial system will deal with them.

But the health system must focus on those addicted to drugs so they can be productive and contribute to society.