By Shereen Siewert
One of three people arrested in connection with a heroin overdose that left a 28-year-old man dead was sentenced this week in Wausau, more than five years after the death was reported.
Shabaka Nubian-Yl, 56, was convicted in June of an amended charge of first-degree reckless homicide by delivery of drugs, as party to a crime. Additional related charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, according to online court documents.
Nubian-Yl is the second person to be sentenced after the Aug. 21, 2017 death of Ryan McClinton. Tonya Muzynoski, 42, is serving a six-year sentence for her role in the crime.
Police said the heroin McClinton used could have been laced with a stronger drug, such as Fentanyl. When interviewed, Nubian-Yl told police, “These (expletive) all complain about weak-ass dope and then I serve them good strong dope and they die,” according to the police report.
Police say McClinton died after shooting about a tenth of a gram of heroin at the home of a friend on Hwy. W in Wausau. A witness told police he and McClinton split a dose of heroin purchased from Muzynoski, who had allegedly gotten the heroin from Nubian-Yl, according to the police report.
Investigators searched the Weston home Muzynoski and Nubian-Yl shared and found 33.78 grams of packaged heroin and more than $10,000 in cash, according to the criminal complaint. The two also had 14.74 grams of packaged heroin in their possession at the time of their arrest during a traffic stop in the town of Rib Mountain, police said. In total, detectives seized 960 doses of heroin worth an estimated street value of $24,000.00 during the investigation, according to a news release issued at the time of their arrest.
Muzynoski said she and Nubian-Yl traveled to Chicago one or two times each week to buy up to 100 grams of heroin for resale in the Wausau area, according to the police report.
Before the traffic stop, Nubian-Yl told Muzynoski to hide the heroin inside her body, according to Muzynoski’s statement to police. While being interviewed, one of the bags containing about 7.44 grams of heroin began to leak, prompting police to call for an ambulance. The heroin was removed before Muzynoski overdosed, police said.
A third person who was arrested and connected with the crime died before his case concluded.
On Tuesday, Circuit Judge Greg Huber sentenced Nubian-Yl to eight years in prison followed by 10 years extended supervision. He was granted 1,404 days credit for time served while awaiting trial.
