Alton man sentenced to prison for fentanyl sales | Courts Cops

ALTON — A local resident charged with providing fentanyl to a man who nearly overdosed on the opioid drug has been sent to prison.

Jason Malo, 22, of Stockbridge Corner Road, in Alton, pleaded guilty in Belknap Superior Court to two counts of sale of fentanyl.

Judge Tina Nadeau sentenced Malo to 1½ three years in prison on one count, and handed down a three- to six year prison sentence with all the time suspended on condition of five years of good behavior on the second count.

Belknap County Attorney Andrew Livernois said the sentence struck “an appropriate balance between punishment and rehabilitation.”

Under the terms negotiated plea, six months of Malo’s prison term can be suspended if he successfully completes an intensive, structured treatment program for inmates with mental health and substance abuse disorders.

Malo will receive credit for the 128 days he had been in confinement prior to Tuesday’s plea and sentencing hearing.

The suspended three- to six year sentence will begin when Malo is released from prison.

Livernois noted that if Malo commits another crime within five years of his release, the county attorney’s office would be able to ask a judge to impose the suspended sentence.

Malo also pleaded guilty to theft by unauthorized taking. On that charge Nadeau imposed a 12-month sentence with all the time suspended on condition of five years of good behavior.

In pleading guilty to one of the fentanyl-sale charges, Malo admitted selling fentanyl on Jan. 7 to a man who nearly died from an overdose the following day. The victim has since made a significant recovery, Livernois said.

Malo purchased the drug with money provided by the victim who had just been discharged from a residential drug rehabilitation facility.

A third man, John French, drove Malo and the victim to Lawrence, Massachusetts, where the fentanyl was purchased and then drove them back to Alton, according to court records.

French, 66, of East Side Drive, in Alton, was indicted Thursday on charges of conspiracy to sell a controlled drug, and being an accomplice to possession of a controlled drug with intent to sell.

“He was not your archetypal drug dealer,” Livernois said, explaining the negotiated sentence. “The evidence is that the (drug) sales were largely driven by his own addiction.”

Livernois said factors he considered in his sentencing recommendation to the judge included that Malo admitted to the crimes soon after his arrest, and that he had a “minor criminal record” consisting of a handful of misdemeanor offenses prior to the latest charges. Livernois added that Malo’s age was also a factor.

At the time the two men were arrested Alton Police Chief Ryan Heath characterized the sale of fentanyl in Alton as an “epidemic.”