Heroin Dealer Sentenced Below Guideline: Harford State's Attorney

BEL AIR, MD — A Harford County judge reversed a jury's conviction in a deadly heroin overdose case, then ordered a sentence below the state guidelines, according to the state's attorney. The drug dealer was on parole and probation for two additional crimes at the time of the death and had recently been released from prison.

Jessie Alimondo, 26,was sentenced on Thursday to five years by a Harford County Circuit Court judge.

The jury issued a conviction on charges of manslaughter and conspiracy to distribute heroin in the 2016 death of a Harford County resident, State's Attorney Joseph Cassilly said.

Alimondo knew a drug dealer in Baltimore City and drove another man there to buy heroin, according to Cassilly.

As Alimondo drove the man back to Harford County, the passenger overdosed and went unconscious in the vehicle, prosecutors said.

Alimondo, who had been out of prison about five months after doing time for burglary, took the man's limp body inside the house and left him there, then drove away, according to Cassilly.

Zachary Beall was found deceased by his fiance when she returned home several hours later on Sept. 23, 2016. He was 26 years old.

Beall's mother testified at sentencing that he leaves behind two young children, according to Cassilly.

A jury convicted Alimondo of manslaughter and conspiracy to distribute heroin in February, officials said.

Judge Yolanda Curtin reversed the conviction at a hearing in April, noting the court of appeals required a direct connection between the action and the death.

According to prosecutors, Alimondo gave a dose of heroin to Beall that led to his death.

Alimondo, who was on probation for one burglary and on parole for another, had been out of prison for approximately five months when he drove Beall to the drug dealer he knew in Baltimore, prosecutors said.

Court records show Alimondo has lived in recent years in Rosedale, White Marsh and Joppa.

He was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for conspiracy to distribute heroin, which Cassilly said was seven years below the sentencing guidelines issued by the state of Maryland.

Meanwhile, an Edgewater man was sentenced to 13 years in prison this week for possession with intent to distribute heroin. An Anne Arundel County jury in April convicted Branden Corey Williams, 27, of possession with intent to distribute heroin, possession of heroin and possession of paraphernalia.

Anne Arundel County Circuit Court Judge Mark W. Crooks sentenced him Tuesday to 20 years in prison with all but 13 years suspended, and he must serve five years of supervised probation upon release. The sentence will run consecutively to a four-year sentence for Williams' two probation violations, officials said.

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