A Melrose Park man was sentenced to 18 years in prison Tuesday for selling a fatal dose of heroin to another man in 2015.
Kevin Liszka, 34, was hit with the sentence after being found guilty of drug-induced homicide in March, according to the DuPage County State’s Attorney’s Office.
On Feb. 19, 2015, 26-year-old Marcus Penton died from a heroin overdose, prosecutors said. An investigation revealed that Penton bought the fatal dose from his friend, Skyler Sabala.
Investigators later learned that Sabala got the heroin from Liszka. In October of 2016, Sabala pleaded guilty to a felony count of manufacture or delivery of a controlled substance and was sentenced to seven years in prison, prosecutors said.
“This case is yet another very sad reminder that we as a society are still facing a very dangerous and deadly opioid crisis,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert B. Berlin said in a statement. “To date this year, DuPage County has suffered thirty-one overdose deaths.”
“With this case, and today’s sentencing, we are again sending the message to drug dealers that if you provide illegal drugs that lead to the death of another person, you will face a significant amount of time in the penitentiary,” Berlin added.
Liszka will have to serve 75 percent of his sentence before being eligible for parole, prosecutors said.