Accused Drug Dealer Pleads Guilty To Causing Cleveland Overdose

CLEVELAND — On a summer day in 2018, a man known to the public as S.K. overdosed and died after using cocaine cut with fentanyl in a Cleveland hotel. On Wednesday, the man who sold him the drugs pleaded guilty to causing the fatal overdose.

Terry Lee Christian, 36, was indicted Wednesday on one count of distribution of controlled substances. He pleaded guilty to the charges, including causing the death of S.K. He is scheduled to be sentenced in January 2020.

“This case demonstrates yet again that there are no safe street drugs, and the drug dealers who sell them, like this defendant, are focused only on their own interests,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “By all accounts, the victim in this case believed he was buying cocaine, not fentanyl. People should assume that the cocaine they are buying on the street contains fentanyl and can kill them, even in small doses. Unfortunately the victim in this case is just one of hundreds who have died from cocaine and fentanyl mixes in Cuyahoga County since last year.”

Cleveland police's heroin involved death investigations unit was called to a downtown hotel on July 14, 2018. Officers were told a person had overdosed in a hotel room.

When police arrived they saw a bag of suspected cocaine on the dresser, and cocaine residue on the bathroom vanity, according to the affidavit filed in the case.

The narcotics were later tested and found to be a mixture of heroin, cocaine and fentanyl. DNA on the packaging material was linked to Christian, court documents said.

When police searched S.K.'s phone they found evidence suggesting he met with Christian on July 13. There were several phone calls between them that day. Shortly after the two were scheduled to meet, the man who overdosed made a hand-to-hand transaction with someone in a minivan, the affidavit said. Less than a day later and S.K. would be dead.

Cleveland police and the DEA investigated the overdose death.

“This case highlights the collaboration between the Cleveland Division of Police Heroin Death Investigators, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Cuyahoga County Regional Forensic Science Laboratory and the Northern Ohio United States District Attorney’s Office,” said Cleveland Police Chief Calvin D. Williams. “The indictment of Mr. Christian should serve as an example to those trafficking in these dangerous and deadly narcotics. Through thorough investigations and the efforts of the attorneys who prosecute the cases, these criminals can be held accountable at the highest level.”