The Lancaster County District Attorney’s office is a leader statewide in prosecuting people who provide illegal narcotics that lead to a fatal overdose, according to data the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts released this month.
Lancaster ranks third among the state’s 67 counties in prosecuting this crime, filing charges 85 times from 2019 through 2023. Only Monroe County, which includes part of the Poconos, and York County filed the charge more often, 96 and 86 times, respectively.
Philadelphia, by contrast, brought charges in just nine cases over the same four-year period, while Allegheny County, which contains Pittsburgh, filed only 12 cases.
Asked about the variances among how often the charge is filed across the state, Kelly Callihan, executive director of the Pennsylvania District Attorneys Association, noted that district attorneys have discretion over filing charges.
“The decision to charge drug delivery resulting in death is based on several factors, including the strength of the evidence to determine where the controlled substance was obtained and the source supplying it, toxicology reports of the deceased to assess the cause of death, any forensic or physical evidence collected and statements to law enforcement officers by witnesses or others with information about the death.
Therefore, charging decisions are made on a case-by-case basis by county prosecutors,” she said.
Drug delivery resulting in death is a first-degree felony punishable by up to 40 years in prison, though people convicted of the charge typically receive far less time.
LNP | LancasterOnline archives show cases in which people have been sentenced to as little as 2 to 5 years in prison and someone sentenced up to 18 years.
As the heroin epidemic ratcheted up in the last decade, Adams’ predecessor, Craig Stedman, told LNP for a March 2019 article that he made it a priority to treat fatal overdoses as homicide investigations.
District Attorney Heather Adam is continuing that.
“For years the DA’s office has had a strong stance on prosecutions of drug delivery resulting in death as one tool to deter this behavior that puts so many in jeopardy and that stance has continued under this administration, and we continue to train detectives around the county on investigating these types of cases,” she said.
While prosecutors say the charge is a tool in the opioid epidemic, addictions specialists are skeptical.
“The war on drugs began in 1971 and ever since, there has been a heavy-handed approach to how the justice system has dealt with substance use disorder,” said Christopher Dreisbach, founder of Blueprints for Addiction Recovery. “It has been a monumental failure in addressing the root causes of the issue. At the end of the day, the loss of one life is tragic. But how about the loss of a second life (for a period of incarceration)?”
Adams said her office supports “programs that offer rehabilitation and recovery to those suffering from a substance use disorder and we also make sure to hold accountable those who are selling these substances and who prey on those with addictions,” Adams said. “I think this all-encompassing approach has been successful and is reflected in our lower overdose numbers coming out of the pandemic.”
