Virginia Man Receives Prison Sentence for Supplying Fentanyl Patches

Roanoke, VAA Virginia man who reportedly supplied the fentanyl patches that were used in a fatal overdose was recently sentenced to 25 years in prison, the Roanoke Times reports.

span itemprop="image" itemscope itemtype="https://schema.org/ImageObject" style="display:block">According to the news provider, Seth Linkous Thomas, whose age was not immediately available, was one of two fentanyl suppliers who were indicted after the November 2007 death of 23-year-old Barry Duncan.

Thomas was convicted in December of two counts of distributing the drug as well as intent to distribute the drug that harmed a person.

At a previous hearing, prosecutors alleged that Duncan died after he chewed on a fentanyl patch that Thomas had received from Aaron Granville Thompson, who pleaded guilty last January to the same charges, the news source said.

The attorneys claimed that even after the first person overdosed on the painkiller, Thomas continued to seek out more customers.

According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, fentanyl is a synthetic opiate analgesic that "is typically used to treat patients with severe pain, or to manage pain after surgery."