With heroin related deaths on the rise,law officials are taking a stronger approach to punishing those who supply deadly doses of the drug than surrounding counties.
Most offenders in the county are being slapped with the maximum charge of, which can mean up to 11 years in prison.
is the Deputy Chief of the county鈥檚 criminal division. She says the charges are issued on a case-by-case basis and are meant to send a message to offenders.
鈥淚f someone causes the death of someone else, and they鈥檙e a dealer, we need to send a message that [if] you come into Summit County and you start selling your poison and killing people, you鈥檙e going to be held accountable--and that may include going to prison for a few years,鈥� Scott said.
The county has seen a total of 29 indictments for those involved in heroin related deaths since 2013. By contrast, neighboring has only seen 15 people indicted for heroin deaths since 2013.
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