Butler man pleads guilty
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 to 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.
Butler Ambulance Service was called to Kmart, where Dietrich was found unresponsive in one of the bathrooms. Paramedics tried to resuscitate him before he was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
In the bathroom, police recovered a hypodermic needle and two empty stamp bags of suspected heroin marked with the name “Predator” and a symbol of a shark on them, according to court documents.
Hakeem in a police interview admitted he previously sold Dietrich two “Predator” bags of heroin in the backyard of his home, police said.
He advised Dietrich that the bags were “very potent” and contained fentanyl, investigators said.
Police on Nov. 25 received Dietrich's autopsy report, which showed he died of “fentanyl toxicity,” documents said.
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.
Kolakowski a short time later suffered a fatal overdose in a room at a Route 8 hotel.
Police said Hakeem sold Kolakowski five stamp bags of a heroin-fentanyl mix Oct. 18 at the Days Inn. Several hours later, hotel staff discovered Kolakowski dead in his room, authorities said.
An autopsy eventually ruled Kolakowski died of combined heroin and fentanyl toxicity.
During an interview with police, Hakeem acknowledged that on three occasions between Oct. 16 and 18 he sold Kolakowski bags of heroin marked both “Mojo” and “Predator,” documents said.
