Parole given in drug death
A woman accused of helping to provide fentanyl-laced heroin that resulted in the death of a Donegal Township man received a probationary sentence in Butler County Court on Thursday.
Julia L. Zaludek, 26, of Fenelton was sentenced to three to six months in Butler County Prison, but was immediately paroled and ordered to undergo 54 months of county probation by Butler County Judge William Shaffer.
She also was ordered to undergo 90 days of electronic monitoring, comply with all recommended treatment and continue to testify truthfully in all future court proceedings.
Simquita Bridges, prosecutor for the Attorney General's Office, which is handling the case because Zaludek's mother, Bonnie Zaludek, works for the Butler County District Attorney's Office, said her cooperation led to the arrest and charges against two other individuals involved — Justin O. Newman, 28, of Brady Township, and William C. Thomas III, 32, formerly of Homestead — and played heavily in the plea and sentencing.
Zaludek on April 5 pleaded guilty to misdemeanor involuntary manslaughter after being charged with felony drug delivery resulting in death, which carries a maximum sentence of 40 years in prison, as well as felony criminal use of a communication facility and the manslaughter charge in relation to the Sept. 16, 2015, death of Joshua Lee Stitt.
She was arraigned and held in the Butler County Prison on $50,000 cash bail on April 11, which was posted April 25.
Zaludek's attorney, public defender Joseph Smith, said while the case involves serious charges, the plea reflects her cooperation with authorities.
“She did not do the felony delivery that resulted in death,” he told the court.
Smith asked for a sentence that did not include incarceration as Zaludek has “worked diligently on her recovery,” and “to permit her to continue with that work.”
Zaludek told the court that she is now more than 30 days clean, is living in a recovery house in Pittsburgh and is working the 12-step program.
“I had six months clean last year, but I think we worked the steps too quickly,” she said regarding a relapse. “We are slowing it down this time.”
She was charged by the state police after authorities say Stitt and Newman traveled with Newman's then-girlfriend, Zaludek, to buy the drugs at a fast-food restaurant parking lot in Pittsburgh's Homestead section from Thomas.
Authorities say Zaludek had set up the deal for 75 bags of heroin for $400, and Newman is accused of providing the stamp bags of heroin to Stitt after the deal.
Zaludek and Stitt also brought their young children along for the ride, police said.
Family members said Stitt's 5-year-old son later found his father unresponsive in the bedroom of his home on Trimbur Road.
A Chicora Ambulance crew responded, and Stitt died in the ambulance on his way to Butler Memorial Hospital. A toxicology report eventually determined he died of a combined heroin and fentanyl overdose.
During a search of the home, which was owned by Stitt's father, Daniel Stitt, several empty bags of heroin stamped “Hit and Run” were recovered from Stitt's bedroom.
At an autopsy the next day, authorities found more empty bags marked “Hit and Run” in a front pocket of shorts that Stitt was wearing when he died.
The pocket also contained a syringe. An examination of his right arm showed a needle track mark.
Police said the residue in all of the used stamp bags they recovered during their investigation also was tested and found to contain heroin and fentanyl.
Newman's charges were bound over to county court during a preliminary hearing on June 20. He remains in the Butler County Prison on $100,000 bail.
Thomas, who is currently serving a two- to four-year sentence at the State Correctional Institution at Greene County in connection with 2016 conviction for felony drug possession in Allegheny County, is awaiting trial on charges similar to Newman's.
