CLEARFIELD – Family members from both sides of a drug delivery death case spoke up during sentencing court on Monday.
In December, Trevor Joel Bloom, 41, of West Decatur was convicted of drug delivery resulting in death and delivery of a controlled substance, both felonies, as well as misdemeanor recklessly endangering another person after a trial.
After hearing from both families, President Judge Fredric J. Ammerman sentenced him to up to 12 years in state prison.
The charges stem from an incident on Dec. 21, 2021, when authorities were notified that a 36-year-old woman, Lindsey Laborde, was having a cardiac arrest at a Coal Hill Road residence.
Although Narcan was administered and CPR performed on her both prior to emergency services arriving on-scene and after, she was pronounced dead at Penn Highlands Clearfield.
Bloom, Laborde’s fiancé, and another male were on the scene with Bloom being the one who called 911.
Laborde’s mother provided a written statement, which was read in court by Victim/Witness Coordinator Margie Rosselli, telling Ammerman that her daughter was “a special person” who was also her best friend. The pain of losing a child is something that “never goes away” and she misses “everything about her.”
She warned that Bloom, who had admitted to being a drug addict for 20 years, will always be the same and this crime could potentially happen again to another family.
The victim’s sister brought a photo of Lindsey to remind everyone that she was a person. She was “so loved, so special.” She continued by saying her sister was a caring soul, a loving, kind and thoughtful person who was devoted to her family and friends.
She emphasized that the family will never get over losing her and now the “sun never shines as bright.”
She spoke directly to Bloom calling him a “parasite” to the victim who was involved with him for 12 years.
“I tried to get her to realize you only cared about yourself,” but she didn’t think her sister was at risk of losing her life. She called him manipulative and said her sister had committed her life to him, when her dream was to get married and have a family.
Without him she would not have been exposed to drugs.
“You are the sole reason she is not alive today.”
She asked Ammerman to give him the maximum sentence to stop anyone else from dying.
Bloom’s mother spoke, noting that her family “lost Lindsey too”. She stated that they begged her to get him into a rehabilitation program, but claimed Lindsey felt she had it under control.
“Addiction is an ugly disease,” she said, but he loved Lindsey, and they lived together as man and wife, even though they were not legally married.
This was a “terrible accident” and because drugs were always in the house, no one could be sure how she took it that day.
She stated that a long sentence for him was not going to serve any purpose and asked the judge not to “take Trevor away from us.”
“Lindsey would want him to go to rehab.”
As she continued to explain that Bloom is a good person, a member of the other family spoke from the gallery and was told to be quiet because Ammerman said he wasn’t going to have a “back and forth” about this.
Bloom’s attorney, Joshua Maines, agreed that Bloom struggled with drug addiction for 20 years. He called her death an accident, adding that there is no question he did not intend this to happen. Bloom tried to resuscitate her and called 911 as he tried to “save the life of the woman he loved and mourns,” Maines said.
Bloom wanted to speak and turned to address the victim’s family. He said he understands what they think of him and is not trying to get out of trouble. He mentioned she could have consumed the drug accidentally and said, “I’m sorry.”
District Attorney Ryan Sayers noted that Bloom had resuscitated 70 people who had overdosed on drugs, which shows his impact on the community. Although the probation office had recommended that Bloom receive 10 to 20 years in state prison, Sayers asked the judge to give him 20 to 40 years instead.
Ammerman stated that this case is a “disaster” any way you look at it. He noted for the record that he had received letters from both the victim’s family and Bloom’s family.
He sentenced Bloom to serve six to 12 years in state prison with 12 months of re-entry supervision.
After the sentence was announced, Ammerman asked the two families to leave the courtroom at different times to avoid any confrontations outside the courtroom.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Bloom, who admitted he has been a heroin user for 20 years, told police Laborde had complained of being sick and having a headache all that day.
She was not a drug user, but “he suggested to Laborde that she ‘snort’ the heroin, ultimately making a line for her on a small table in the dining room.”
He said he was “only joking” with her and did not think she would use it.
He went upstairs to play music with the other man for about 20 minutes before returning downstairs where he found her unresponsive on the floor.
Police observed residue on the table along with numerous pink stamp bags that had been torn open for use.
The coroner’s report indicated the victim had overdosed on Fentanyl.
When Bloom was asked by authorities about what was in the stamp bags he purchased, he confirmed he knew it would be Fentanyl because “everything you purchase these days is Fentanyl.”