Man who sold drugs that killed Sioux Falls woman sentenced to 10 years

The man who sold a fatal dose of fentanyl-laced heroin to a Sioux Falls woman last year has been sentenced to spend a decade behind bars.

Devlin Tommeraasen, 24, was sentenced Friday morning by U.S. District Judge Karen Schreier to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. 

Tommeraasen pleaded guilty to conspiring to distribute drugs in November 2018.

He was initially charged in May 2018, after he sold heroin laced with fentanyl to Emily Groth and her boyfriend.

Tommeraasen himself almost overdosed from the batch. Authorities found him unresponsive at a Hy-Vee.

Groth, 21, died from the purchase, not knowing it had been laced with fentanyl, her mother said in court Friday.

More:Opioid fentanyl causing spike in overdoses in South Dakota

More:Anatomy of an overdose: 'At least his demons are gone'

"My family and I are serving a life sentence without Emily," said Groth's mother, Angela Kennecke. "We've lost more than I could put into words."

Tommeraasen, who had about 15 supporters present in court, apologized for his actions and said he would like to focus on recovery and his hopes of becoming an electrician. 

"I'm truly sorry for all the people this affected – Emily's family, my family," he said. "I couldn't see past my addiction." 

Schreier detailed Tommeraasen's history of substance abuse, saying he started drinking alcohol and using marijuana at the age of 14. His use progressed throughout his teens, to huffing, LSD, cocaine, eventually using opiates and methamphetamine. 

The judge urged him to take advantage of treatment while in prison and continue treatment after his release.

"This has got to be the thing that shakes you to your core, so you don't ever do this again," Schreier told Tommeraasen just before handing down her sentence.

Devastating the community

Sioux Falls was hit with a particularly potent batch of heroin laced with fentanyl in the spring of 2018, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer Mammenga said Friday morning. 

"That's the heroin that the defendant dealt," Mammenga said. "(Those who use) heroin face such a tremendous risk of loss of life."

Schreier also noted the impact that opioids have had on the Sioux Falls area. 

"(Heroin and opioids) have ravaged our community," she said. "The one thing you (Tommeraasen) can do to honor Emily's life is not use drugs and not sell ever again."

Tommeraasen's federal prosecution demonstrates a local and national effort to get more drug dealers off of the streets. 

Local law enforcement officers are seeing more opioids than ever before, a deadly trend that made its way from the East Coast to the Midwest.

More patrol officers and school resource officers are carrying Narcan, a drug that halts the effects of an overdose, and officers have even started carrying resource packets to give to drug users and family members of drug users. 

More:Law enforcement hopes 'Narcan 2' can 'save a life twice'

More:School resource officers prepared for opioid overdoses as drug abuse rises in Sioux Falls

The majority of heroin found in Minnehaha County is laced with fentanyl, a synthetic opioid 100 times more potent than heroin. A fatal fentanyl dose can be as small as the size of Abraham Lincoln’s hair on a penny.

Federal law allows prosecutors to increase the severity of drug dealers' punishment if their batch leads to serious injury or death, and a state law passed last year allows state prosecutors to do the same. The charge is still an intent to distribute, but the mandatory minimum is increased. 

"One of the things that drive cases to go federal are higher mandatory minimums," Sioux Falls-based U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons has told the Argus Leader. "That’s an effective tool prosecution has to try to work up the chain of drug distribution."

Turning heartbreak into action

Groth's family members felt they were about to get through to her when she died. 

"We were so close to getting her help," Kennecke said during her statement to the court. 

Kennecke, an investigative reporter and anchor at KELO-TV, has used her platform to raise awareness of the dangers of opioids. She and her family started Emily's Hope, a fundraising effort to help offset the cost of treatment for people struggling with addiction.  

It seems to be helping, Kennecke said Friday. The U.S. Attorney's Office told her they've been receiving fewer reports of overdoses since awareness efforts were pushed. 

"The only thing you can control is your response," she said. "I'm trying to turn heartbreak into action, so no one else has to go through this. Nobody should have to. It's horrible. It's the worst."

More:Addiction hits home: A daughter's painful perspective

Groth, a 2015 O'Gorman graduate, has been described as a "creative genius" with a big heart. She had a love of the outdoors, was a talented musician, artist and a medal-winning athlete. 

Kennecke spoke to Tommeraasen when giving a victim impact statement, saying she doesn't think he intended to sell a lethal batch to her daughter. But she hopes he takes this situation as a wake-up call and uses his mistakes to help others. 

"I do hope he takes the opportunity to get well, to stay away from drugs and other substances, and to help other people to make sure they do, too, so other families don't have to suffer," Kennecke said after the sentencing.

Follow reporter Danielle Ferguson on Twitter at @DaniFergs