Law enforcement says Terry R. Smith sold drugs to Eastern Kentuckians who were addicted, poor and weak. Ultimately, it cost Smith the rest of his life.
U.S. District Judge Karen K. Caldwell sentenced Smith, 55, of Clay County to life in prison.
The judge imposed the sentence because Smith was convicted of illegally distributing prescription pain pills that caused the overdose death of Patty Smallwood, and he had prior felony convictions.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Sam Dotson said the life sentence was justified because Smith was a key player in driving the crippling level of prescription-drug abuse that has affected Clay County and other areas. “He was making money off the misery, the suffering, the death” of others, Dotson said in court.
The life sentence is thought to be the first imposed in federal court in Kentucky for an overdose death involving prescription drugs.
Is it right for a drug dealer to be charged with the death of a customer who overdoses? If this becomes the norm, then we need to lock up the executives at big tobacco companies who sell cigarettes to people that die from cancer.