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Ohio Dealer Who Caused West Virginia Overdoses Sentenced
By: Associated Press
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HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) – An Ohio man who sold heroin laced with an elephant tranquilizer that caused more than two dozen overdoses in West Virginia has been sentenced to more than 18 years in federal prison.
Twenty-two-year-old Bruce Lamar Griggs, of Akron, was sentenced Monday in federal court in Huntington.
Authorities have said 28 people overdosed shortly after using heroin sold by Griggs on Aug. 15. Several victims implicated Griggs, who was arrested a week later.
Authorities have said two people died of heroin overdoses in Huntington around that time, but U.S. District Judge Robert Chambers said none of the deaths were from Griggs’ sales.
Victims’ blood and urine tests showed heroin, fentanyl and carfentanil, an opioid considered 10,000 times stronger than morphine and used as an elephant tranquilizer.