Two Lancaster County men recently admitted in county court to providing heroin that caused fatal overdoses.
Paul Rinear and Zachery A. Hardy will each serve 4 to 8 years in prison, in accordance with plea agreements arranged by Assistant District Attorney Maria Cusick.
Rinear and Hardy pleaded guilty at separate hearings to felony drug delivery resulting in death.
“While these guilty pleas will not bring back the two lives lost,” Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman said Friday, “we hope the prison sentences serve as messages to predatory dealers distributing these poisons in our communities.
“These cases truly matter to surviving family members. They need to know there will be consequences for the person who supplied the deadly drugs.”
- Rinear, 33, of Ephrata, provided heroin March 10 to a woman who was a patient at an area hospital. The woman overdosed and died on March 16.
As part of sentence, Rinear was ordered by County President Judge Dennis Reinaker to pay $3,346 for the victim’s funeral costs.
Ephrata police filed charges.
- Hardy, 30, of Elizabethtown, sold a 10-bag bundle of heroin Oct. 19, 2016, to a Conoy Township man. The man died the next morning.
As part of sentence, Hardy was ordered by County Judge Howard Knisely to pay $3,884 for the victim’s funeral costs.
Susquehanna Regional police filed charges.
(Photo: Rinear at left; Hardy at right.)
MEDIA CONTACT: Brett A. Hambright, 717-295-2041; bhambright@co.lancaster.pa.us; Twitter: @BrettHambright