By Shereen Siewert
WAUSAU — A 32-year-old woman who provided a lethal dose of drugs to a Wausau man in May was sentenced Thursday to eight years in prison followed by eight years extended supervision.
Ashley B. Szarkowitz was convicted Aug. 26 of first degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs. Circuit Judge Jill Falstad ordered a presentencing investigation before determining an appropriate sentence for Szarkowitz, who was already on community supervision connected to a prior drug coviction at the time of her arrest.
A charge of manufacturing or delivering Schedule I or II narcotics was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
According to the Wisconsin Department of Corrections Szarkowitz was released from prison less than a year before the man’s death.
According to the criminal complaint police and rescue crews were called at 1:13 a.m. May 13 to a home in the 2900 block of Christian Avenue for a report of a 24-year-old man who was found unresponsive in a bathroom by his roommate. Paramedics administered two doses of Narcan to the man, but were not successful in reviving him. At 1:40 a.m., lifesaving efforts were discontinued and the man was pronounced dead, the police report states.
The victim’s roommate told police that earlier in the night the victim had been in his bedroom with a woman who left the residence when the body was discovered. Police were able to find Szarkowitz through a vehicle license plate number, according to court documents.
Szarkowitz admitted selling the victim $40 worth of heroin, according to the police report, then told her own roommate, “I gave someone heroin and they overdosed.”
Autopsy results show the victim died as a result of mixed drug and alcohol toxicity — a combination of “fentanyl, methamphetamine and ethanol,” court documents state. White powder discovered in the victim’s bedroom tested positive for fentanyl, police said.
Falstad granted Szarkowitz 180 days credit for time served while awaiting trial.
