Fentanyl that killed struggling U.S. veteran brings drug dealer life term

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A man who supplied the fentanyl that killed a struggling U.S.
Marine Corps veteran in Kalamazoo was sentenced this week to life in prison for
the deadly 2017 overdose.

Deondray C. Abrams, 27, was convicted by a federal jury in
late November of providing the fentanyl that killed Brandon Jay Demko.

“Fentanyl is increasingly available in western Michigan,’’
U.S. Attorney Andrew Birge said. “Drug dealers are mixing fentanyl with heroin
and, as in this case, selling fentanyl as heroin.’’

Birge said his office will continue to “aggressively
prosecute opioid drug dealers whose products result in death.’’

Demko, 32, was a U.S. Marine
Corps veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan who suffered from severe post-traumatic
stress disorder, federal prosecutors said.

Abrams sold the fentanyl as heroin. Demko used the drug,
believing it was heroin. He became unconscious and ultimately died.

A federal jury in November convicted
Abrams following a two-day trial.

In a sentencing memorandum, Abrams’ attorney asked for a term
less than life, noting that Abrams was “the product of a deplorable childhood
who never had a shot at higher education or training.’’

Abrams “is being treated as though he committed a
long-planned murder,’’ defense attorney Richard E. Zambon wrote in a sentencing
memorandum.

U.S. District Court Judge Paul L. Maloney on Monday sentenced
Abrams to life in prison for distribution of fentanyl causing death and lesser
terms for several related offenses, including distribution of heroin and fentanyl.

Abrams has prior drug-related convictions in Kalamazoo County, including one in 2013
that sent him to prison.

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