BUTTE, Mont. (AP) - A Butte man has been sentenced to nearly 19 years in federal prison for selling a prescription pain relieving patch to a man who died of an overdose in December 2012.
The U.S. attorney’s office says 21-year-old Dacota Rogers was sentenced on Feb. 21 by U.S. District Judge Sam Haddon in Butte. Rogers earlier pleaded guilty to distribution of fentanyl.
Prosecutors say Rogers sold a fentanyl patch to 23-year-old Mark Phillip Allen for $35. An autopsy found Allen died early on Dec. 8, 2012, as a result of fentanyl toxicity.
Fentanyl is a powerful synthetic opiate used to manage moderate to severe pain for patients who don’t get enough relief from morphine or oxycodone.
Court records say Rogers acknowledged selling the fentanyl patch to Allen and teaching him how to smoke it.
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