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Butler man pleads guilty to involuntary manslaughter in drug case

Joshua A. Hakeem

A Butler man pleaded guilty in Butler County Court on Tuesday to supplying heroin that led to the deaths of two people in October 2015.

Joshua A. Hakeem, 31, entered guilty pleas before county Judge Timothy McCune to two misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.

The plea agreement calls for a sentence of 18-42 months in each case, for a total of three to seven years in state prison. Hakeem is scheduled to be sentenced July 20.

Hakeem was charged in both cases of selling fentanyl-laced heroin to two people — Chester Dietrich, 26, and John Kolakowski, 29 — both of whom died after using the drugs on Oct. 17 and 18, 2015.

He was charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death and possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance by Butler Police after authorities said he sold the lethal drug mix to Dietrich on Oct. 17, 2015. Hours after buying the drug, Dietrich died of an overdose in a store bathroom at the Pullman Square shopping plaza.

Hakeem was also charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death, two felony counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter, recklessly endangering another person and possession of a controlled substance by Butler Township police in relation to Kolakowski’s heroin-overdose death on Oct. 18, 2015.

A full report will appear in tomorrow's Butler Eagle.

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