Dealer of drugs that killed 3 people gets 7 years in prison
HARTFORD, Conn. — A man who sold fentanyl-laced cocaine that killed three people and sent 14 others to the hospital after he overdosed on the same drugs himself was sentenced Tuesday to seven years in prison.
A federal judge in Hartford imposed the punishment on Frank Pina, a 57-year-old New Haven resident who pleaded guilty in August to possession and distribution of a substance containing cocaine.
Pina was among three men arrested on drug charges in connection with the 17 overdoses that occurred in New Haven in June. Authorities said the victims thought they were buying cocaine, but the drugs were laced with the powerful opioid fentanyl.
Prosecutors say Pina sold the drugs only days after overdosing himself.