A pair of Lancaster County heroin dealers were recently sentenced to state prison terms for providing fentanyl-laced heroin that caused the overdose deaths of two men.
The investigations were separate and not related. Both men were determined to be dealers distributing narcotics for profit, and both were charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death.
The Lancaster County District Attorney’s Office continues to use discretion in prosecution of that felony offense by evaluating whether the defendant is a legit dealer or a person selling to support their own addiction.
Erick Salome-Chevere and Eric Montanez were determined to be the former, according to Assistant District Attorney Barry Goldman, who prosecuted the cases.
- Salome-Chevere, 28, is one of three people charged in connection with an Elizabethtown man’s death on July 2, 2018.
Salome-Chevere will serve 8 to 20 years in prison, in accordance with a plea agreement. His criminal record, including a robbery conviction, was considered in the agreement terms. He also has a pending state parole violation.
Also, police determined Salome-Chevere was at the top of the supply chain among the three charged.
Salome-Chevere was arrested during a traffic stop in Ephrata. Police found 1,000 bags of heroin in the vehicle.
Elizabethtown police, Lancaster County Drug Task Force, Lancaster city police Selective Enforcement Unit, and Ephrata police worked the case.
Lancaster County Judge Margaret Miller accepted the plea terms and ordered sentence.
- Montanez, 33, will serve 5 to 15 years in prison, in accordance with a plea agreement.
He provided fentanyl-laced heroin to a man who died in his Beaver Valley Pike home on May 1, 2018.
Police also seized 200 bags of heroin from Montanez.
He does not have a substantial criminal record.
Pennsylvania State Police filed charges.
Lancaster County President Judge Dennis Reinaker accepted the plea terms and ordered sentence.
(Photo: Salome-Chevere, left, and Montanez.)
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright