Man sentenced in 2 drug deaths
Clutching a photograph of her son, Mary Dietrich spoke to Butler County Judge Timothy McCune, telling of the loss of Chester Dietrich, who died of a heroin overdose in 2015.
Joshua A. Hakeem, 31, of Butler looked on as he stood prepared for sentencing for supplying the heroin that led to the deaths of not only Dietrich, but of another man, John Kolakowski, in October 2015.
Mary Dietrich told him she hopes he gets “the punishment you deserve and in doing so, you get your life clean.”
“I hope you never have to feel this pain,” she said. “He (Hakeem) knew exactly what he was giving him (Dietrich), and my son paid with his life.”
Before receiving a three- to seven-year state prison sentence, Hakeem turned and spoke to Mary Dietrich, apologizing for the men's deaths.
“Chester and John were my friends,” he said. “I never meant for anybody to get hurt. I was using and using with them.”
In passing down the judgment, McCune called heroin a “scourge on our community” and that while Hakeem was using the drugs with the two men, he was “lucky enough not to die, but they did.”
McCune sentenced Hakeem to the prison term pursuant to a plea agreement, after Hakeem previously pleaded guilty to two misdemeanor counts of involuntary manslaughter and two counts of possession of a controlled substance.
He was sentenced to 18 to 42 months in each case, to run consecutively. McCune also ordered Hakeem to pay $200 in fines, as well as restitution to the two men's families.
Hakeem was charged in both cases of selling fentanyl-laced heroin to Dietrich, 26, and 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. Emergency personnel with Butler Ambulance Service attempted to resuscitate him after he was found unresponsive in one of the bathrooms of the Kmart store, and he was taken to Butler Memorial Hospital, where he later died.
Police recovered paraphernalia 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 reported telling Dietrich that the bags were “very potent” and contained fentanyl, investigators said.
Hakeem also was 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.
Police said Hakeem sold Kolakowski five stamp bags of a heroin-fentanyl mix Oct. 18 at the Days Inn on Route 8. Several hours later, hotel staff discovered Kolakowski dead in his room, authorities said.
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.
