Firm News

Long Prison Term, Probation for Supplier in Drug Overdose Death


Posted on Dec 22, 2009

Matthew Glenn Minster, 30, of Louisa County, was sentenced to prison for selling opiate pain-reliever patches to a young mother who later overdosed on them and died. According to court records, Minster was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison, but most of that was suspended. He could have faced up to 50 years in prison. Minter received an active sentence of two years and six months Friday in Louisa Circuit Court, according to the court's records.

Minster previously pleaded guilty to distributing fentanyl patches. He was acquitted of felony murder of his housemate, 24-year-old Nicole Brockett, during a trial in October.

Brockett was found dead Dec. 26, 2007, in her Louisa home. Authorities have said she died of acute fentanyl poisoning.

Minster gave Brockett five fentanyl patches and told her she could pay him later, authorities have said. Instead of sticking them on her skin, Brockett cut some of them into pieces and ate them. Ingesting the patches, which are meant to release medication slowly through the skin, puts a lot of fentanyl into a person's system at once.

According to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, fentanyl has similar biological effects to heroin but can be hundreds of times more potent.

He also will have to serve five years of supervised probation upon his release.

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Mr. Stelly regularly appears in the courts of the City of Richmond, Henrico County, Chesterfield County, Goochland County, and Hanover County.



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