Schuykill County man gets 2 to 4 years for role in Berks woman’s fatal fentanyl overdose

A Berks County judge has sentenced a Schuylkill County man convicted of delivering the drugs that caused a Spring Township woman’s fatal overdose to two to four years in state prison.

Judge Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser’s sentence for Drew Reed is well below the standard range sentencing guidelines for the drug delivery resulting in death offense, which started at a six-year minimum due to Reed’s prior record.

The judge said she’s been contemplating what to do in the case from the moment a jury found Reed, 28, guilty April 24 of drug delivery resulting in death and related offenses in the April 16, 2018 death of Jennifer McCauley, 44.

Defense attorney Jay M. Nigrini argued that the statute was designed to punish drug dealers who drew a profit from drug sales, not addicts helping friends.

Geishauser said she studied the legislative history of the offense and recognizes there are inherent inequities within it and with how the loss of life is measured. She said she also believes Reed is dependent on drugs and not a dealer.

“My issue with that is that I feel like what we’re doing is repeating history,” Geishauser said. “This is just another name on the war on drugs. Another way that all of us make ourselves feel better thinking that we are somehow going to overcome the opioid crisis by incarcerating addicts.”

Geishauser also sentenced Reed to five years of probation, to begin after his prison term, and to pay $5,000 to McCauley’s mother for funeral expenses. He will receive credit for 395 days.

Prosecutors asked for a sentence of seven to 20 years, asking Geishauser to send a message that these types of cases will be taken seriously and carry harsh punishments f or people who give dangerous drugs to others.

According to trial testimony, McCauley asked Reed to help her get heroin for relief from the pain of her fibromyalgia. Reed traveled to McCauley’s apartment on April 14, 2018 to get money, then went to Reading to buy what he believed was heroin, before returning to McCauley’s home to show her how to use it.

Authorities found McCauley dead in her apartment two days later from a fentanyl overdose. Testing of a bag similar to the one Reed described buying came back positive for fentanyl.

Reed was the first person in Berks County to go to trial for drug delivery resulting in death. Other local convictions have been the result of guilty pleas.