NEWARK -- The sister of the late Robert Brown trembled as she read a prepared statement lamenting the actions of Jack Lepley, who had injected her brother with heroin and did little as he slipped away.
Lepley, 29, pleaded guilty Wednesday to five felonies, including third-degree felony reckless homicide, and was sentenced to seven and a half years in prison for selling and administering the opiate to the 48-year-old victim, trying to cover up his involvement and stealing items after Brown had died.
But what disturbed Brown's sister, Janetta Jewel, the most was Lepley's failure to call for help April 11, 2008, when Brown overdosed and became comatose.
Instead, Lepley left an unresponsive Brown in the Nadine Drive apartment in Heath and twice returned later to steal the victim's guitar, amplifier and pedals.
The body went undiscovered for days, Jewel said.
She told Common Pleas Judge Thomas Marcelain that memories of her brother always will be soiled by the recollection of the smell she had to endure while cleaning his home.
"I wish my brother had the opportunity to receive EMS care," she said. "It could have made all the difference."
Lepley, last known address 645 E. Crest Drive, Newark, made no statements during the hearing, but his attorney, Andrew Sanderson, said his client "beats himself up every day" about the death.
"This is an offense where Mr. Lepley's actions carried the potential for certain consequences, but not consequences that Mr. Lepley anticipated, intended or desired," Sanderson said.
One of the charges Lepley originally was facing was involuntary manslaughter, a first-degree felony, but that was amended down to reckless homicide at the request of the state.
Licking County Assistant Prosecutor Brian Waltz said toxicology reports revealed the presence of high levels of two other drugs -- Brown's legally prescribed medication. That wrinkle could have brought about complications in proving the heroin supplied by Lepley was the cause of death.
Marcelain ordered the sentence to run consecutive to an 18-month prison term Lepley received for heroin trafficking near Ben Franklin Elementary School in 2008. He has about four months left on that sentence, according to the Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction.
