CLEARFIELD – A Millerton man will spend up to 10 years in state prison for supplying heroin to a man who died of an overdose.
Ryan Seth Ray, 25, 7 Pine Hill Dr., Millerton, pleaded guilty to drug delivery resulting in death, involuntary manslaughter, possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance and possession of drug paraphernalia during plea and sentencing court in Clearfield County.
The charges stem from an incident at the Clarion Hotel in Sandy Township on July 26, 2013.
Ray was sentenced by President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman to 30 months to 10 years in state prison. He was ordered to complete drug and alcohol counseling and to submit to DNA testing at a cost of $250. He was fined $4 plus costs and he must pay more than $1,200 in restitution to the victim’s father.
Prior to sentencing, the victim’s father, Lance Steelman, addressed the court stating his son left behind a one-year-old daughter. He admitted his son had problems with alcohol and marijuana but said he never did hard drugs before this incident.
Ray also addressed the court explaining this was not a drug sale, but they were sharing the heroin. He said this incident saved his life because he has now stopped taking drugs.
According to testimony at the preliminary hearing, Sgt. Rodney Fairman of the Sandy Township police said Ray told him that he and the victim, Lance Steelman II, were in DuBois working for a gas well company. When he arrived at the hotel that evening, he decided to go to a bar and get something to eat. While at the Hitching Post, he met up with the victim and they talked.
The victim asked Ray if he had “any” meaning heroin. Ray told the victim he had two packages of heroin that he brought back from Williamsport. They returned to Ray’s hotel room where he handed heroin to the victim who mixed it up and injected it himself. He then handed it to Ray who injected himself. They laid down on the bed where they fell asleep.
Ray said he woke up at one point and saw the victim was still in his room. Ray fell back to sleep and when he woke again he saw the victim was frothing at the mouth. Ray tried to wake him up and when he couldn’t, he went to the front desk to ask them to call 9-1-1.
Nick Johnson, who is a paramedic with DuBois Emergency Medical Services, testified he was called to the hotel around 3:30 a.m. to attend to an unconscious male who was having a possible diabetic problem. When he arrived he met with Ray in the hall. Ray explained he couldn’t wake his friend up before leading him into the room where he saw the patient lying on his back in bed. He had white froth around his mouth, which is a sign of an overdose. He had no pulse and was not breathing, Johnson stated.
Johnson asked Ray what happened because this was not a diabetic issue. Ray told him they had “shot up” heroin around 11 p.m. Johnson started CPR. After several cycles, there was no change.
“It appeared he had been down a long time,” Johnson said.
Johnson contacted a doctor at DuBois Regional Medical Center who told him to continue CPR, which he did for a while. There was still no response from the man and he contacted the doctor again. The doctor then gave him permission to stop CPR. Johnson called for the coroner.
Mike Morris, coroner for Clearfield County, testified that he was called in around 4 a.m. that morning. The deceased was cool to the touch and had white froth around his mouth, which he said indicated an overdose. Ray told him they had used heroin earlier that night. The body was first transported to the morgue at DRMC and then later to JC Blair Memorial Hospital in Huntingdon for an autopsy.
The autopsy report by Dr. Gordon Handte revealed that his manner of death was accidental and caused by morphine toxicity, Morris said. The level of morphine in his system was consistent with heroin abuse.
Morris explained that heroin metabolizes quickly as morphine.
