A West Liberty man who provided the fentanyl-laced heroin that led to his girlfriend’s death pleaded guilty Thursday to drug delivery resulting in death.

Prosecutors will recommend that 31-year-old Shayne Emery face 4 to 15 years in state prison when he is sentenced Feb. 24 by Butler County Judge William Shaffer.

Emery was charged with the crime, which is a first-degree felony, after 21-year-old Brittany Lee Hays died Feb. 2, 2014, of an overdose inside her Worth Township home.

Among the items found near Hays’ body were four stamp bags labeled “Theraflu” and a pink zipper bag filled with stamp bags labeled “Burberry,” according to court records.

“Theraflu” was one of the street names used for heroin laced with the powerful synthetic painkiller fentanyl that was been blamed for more than 20 fatal overdoses in Western Pennsylvania last year.

In a police interview during the investigation, Emery admitted he had heard of “Theraflu” heroin in the media, and he had heard it had caused some deaths, police said.