A previously convicted drug felon who allegedly sold a potent prescription painkiller that caused an Evans City man to die of an overdose will serve up to 5 years in prison.

Mark E. Noah, 48, pleaded no contest to involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced Tuesday in Butler County Court.

According to court records, police arrested Noah after 52-year-old Kenneth Stefanowicz died April 7 of an apparent drug overdose at his Evans City home.

Among the drugs found in Stefanowicz’s system was Fentanyl, a fast-acting painkiller purportedly 100 times more powerful than morphine.

Investigators said that Stefanowicz died just hours after he went to Noah’s home to buy drugs.

Police allege Noah sold Stefanowicz two stamp bags of suspected heroin marked “American Dreamer.” However, analysis by the state police crime lab determined those bags also contained Fentanyl.

“I’m sorry,” was the only thing Noah said during the sentencing hearing.

In addition to the involuntary manslaughter case, Noah pleaded no contest to a felony count of unlawful delivery of drugs in connection to an arrest five months before Stefanowicz’s death,

County Judge William Shaffer, who sentenced Noah, decided his 15- to 36-month sentence for the delivery charge will run at the same time as the 21- to 60-month sentence for the manslaughter charge.

Noah’s plea of no contest means he is not admitting guilt to the crimes. However, he is choosing not to fight the charges at a trial. A no contest plea is given the same weight as a guilty plea for the purpose of sentencing.

According to court records, Noah’s criminal record includes prior felony drug convictions in Allegheny County.