TAINTED DRUGS, DEATH: 20 YEARS IN PRISON

WILMINGTON -- Joseph Bentley, the first person in Delaware ever
charged and convicted for selling tainted drugs that led to a death,
was sentenced to 20 years in prison today.

In November, Bentley admitted he sold fentanyl-laced heroin to Seth
Boyd, 30, of Dover, who died on April 28, 2006, after snorting the drug.

Fentanyl is a painkiller that is 80 times more potent than morphine.
Bentley, dressed in a white shirt and khaki pants, chose not to
address the court today and showed no emotion after District Judge
Gregory M. Sleet handed down the sentence, the minimum mandatory under the law.

Sleet could have sent Bentley to jail for life.

As part of Bentley's plea deal with federal prosecutors, he also
agreed to pay $8,311 restitution to Boyd's family to cover the funeral costs.

U.S. Attorney Colm F. Connolly said Bentley has expressed genuine
remorse for his actions, but at the same time he continued to sell
the tainted heroin after he learned of Boyd's death.

Connolly said Bentley was a small time drug dealer but his office
wanted to send a message to all drug dealers that selling tainted
drugs carries a high price.

Bentley, 22, will not see freedom again until he is 42.

The decision to charge Bentley under a law that had not been
previously used in Delaware was made in response to a series of
fentanyl-related overdoses and deaths in the state and the region last year.

The law is "strict liability," meaning the dealer's state of mind is
not an issue. The dealer does not have to intend to kill or even know
that the drugs he or she is dealing are deadly, in order to be
convicted and sent to prison for 20 years to life, Connolly said outside court.

Since the charges against Bentley were announced in September, there
have been no other fentanyl-related overdoses or deaths, leading
Connolly to believe that the message he was hoping to send reached
its intended audience.