Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Sunday, May 11, 2008
Man gets 24 years in connection with 2 Madison heroin deaths
MADISON, Wis. — A 29-year-old man was sentenced to 24 years in prison on allegations he provided heroin that killed two people in Madison.
Adrian Starks was sentenced Friday by Dane County Circuit Judge Patrick Fiedler after being convicted by a jury in February of supplying local drug dealers with the heroin that killed 20-year-old Sarah Stellner and 31-year-old Michael Ace.
Starks, who has maintained his innocence, shouted at the judge during the sentencing hearing and was temporarily removed from the courtroom, kicking and struggling. He later was returned, shackled, and the hearing was completed.
He was given consecutive 12-year prison sentences for two counts of first-degree reckless homicide, and a concurrent five-year sentence for conspiracy to deliver heroin in the 2005 deaths. Starks was also sentenced to 16 years of extended supervision.
“You are dealing a terrible poison,” Fiedler told Starks. “What concerns me is you won’t accept responsibility for that.”
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