A Hopkinsville man charged with manslaughter in connection to a drug overdose death was denied probation and formally sentenced in Christian County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon.
Jeremy Ryan Smith and his public defender, Doug Moore, appeared before Judge Andrew Self, who read the plea agreement reached in February that includes second-degree manslaughter for a recommended sentence of 6 years and first-degree trafficking in a controlled substance first offense Fentanyl for a recommended sentence of six years to run consecutively.
Following the reading of the charges, Moore asked Judge Self to consider his client for probation since he was remorseful and this was his first felony offense.
click to download audioSmith then expressed his remorse to Judge Self.
click to download audioBolen said she is opposed to probation due to the seriousness of this case.
click to download audioJudge Self said this was “a tough case for everybody for a lot of reasons, obviously, including a young lady that lost her life.” He then denied probation and sentenced Smith to 12 years in prison.
click to download audioJudge Self noted that Smith would be eligible for parole after serving 20% of his sentence. Smith was also given credit for time served which Judge Self said was over 250 days.
According to the indictment, Smith caused the death of a subject identified only as “S.G.” on May 8, 2022, by distributing a controlled substance that led to the individual’s death.
