A 32-year-old Smithfield man is facing more than two decades in prison for his role in a 20-year-old man’s fatal overdose.
Shamel Nesbitt was sentenced Thursday afternoon to 292 months in prison for dealing fentanyl that caused two men to overdose, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Michael Easley’s office.
In 2017, Lucas Urbina and his unnamed friend purchased narcotics from Nesbitt. The friends both overdosed on the drugs and spent time in a local hospital. Although the friend was resuscitated and released from the hospital, Urbina never regained consciousness, the statement said.
Urbina died on Nov. 22, 2017.
Soon after, Johnston County Sheriff’s Office’s began investigating the case and law enforcement determined Nesbitt had sold Urbina the fentanyl that killed him.
In August, Nesbitt was convicted of distributing cyclopropyl fentanyl.
“Our overdose crisis won’t be solved by prosecution alone, but sentences like this are a warning,” Easley said in a statement.
Death by distribution
As the country grapples with an ongoing increase in synthetic opioid deaths, jurisdictions have turned to a new way to prosecute those who deal drugs that cause buyers to fatally overdose.
Signed into law by Gov. Roy Cooper in 2019 in response to growing opioid-related deaths, death by distribution is a criminal charge that punishes people who sell drugs to buyers who fatally overdose on those drugs. In such cases, prosecutors must prove:
▪ The person’s death was caused by ingesting opium, cocaine or methamphetamine.
▪ The defendant intentionally distributed the drugs.
▪ The distribution was the cause of the death.
▪ The defendant acted with a standard of malice.