He shared a pill with a Whatcom co-worker. Now he’ll go to prison for five years
A Skagit County man will spend five years in prison for giving Neil Bramlett a fentanyl-laced pill in April, killing him, while they were working together on a job in Whatcom County.
Derik Anthony Shooster, 32, of Hamilton, pleaded guilty July 15 to controlled-substance homicide, delivery of a controlled substance and delivery of a counterfeit controlled substance in Whatcom County Superior Court.
Shooster was also sentenced to five years in prison, with a year of probation.
Whatcom County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ben Pratt asked the judge to sentence Shooster to the highest prison sentence possible, of almost six years. Pratt said while it was clear Shooster wanted to take responsibility for his actions, the victim’s family wanted more severe charges for Shooster.
Pratt said Shooster knew there was a risk the pills he sold contained fentanyl, and when the victim started displaying signs of an overdose, Shooster did nothing.
Pratt also asked that Shooster be required to undergo drug treatment while in prison.
“This case involved the sale of a pill labeled as Perc-30, Percocet, but it was actually fentanyl. And our community is very aware of the dangers of fentanyl and how it is wrapped in our community,” Pratt said. “This is the ultimate consequence of distributing such a pill to an individual and having them pass.”
Shooster’s defense attorney, Doug Hyldahl, asked the judge to sentence Shooster to two and a half years in prison with two and a half years of close monitoring by the Washington State Department of Corrections. Hyldahl asked for a drug offender sentencing alternative, for Shooster so he could receive treatment for his addiction.
Hyldahl said as soon as Shooster found out Bramlett died, he wanted to take responsibility for his actions, and wanted the opportunity to ask for a sentencing alternative. Hyldahl said Shooster’s recovery would benefit not only him, but also the community as a whole.
“It’s painfully obvious that whatever the sentence is, that will not bring (the victim) back,” Hyldahl said. “Derik Shooster can do nothing in this case to make up for his actions, except getting clean and staying clean. … Perhaps he can teach others about the costs of addiction.”
Spike in overdoses
The victim’s father, Ronald Bramlett, said his son was the youngest of four children. Bramlett said his son loved to fish and help others and one day wished to have a family of his own.
Bramlett said his son’s death was the most traumatic and heartbreaking evening of his life. He said over the past several years, he and his son had grown closer and his death, and Shooster’s actions, took that relationship from him.
Bramlett said while his son “had his trials, he became a young man who was loved and he loved so many people. (The victim) had a heart of gold and he was very friendly, kind, passionate, generous and caring.”
He said Shooster’s lack of actions in summoning help when the victim displayed signs of an overdose showed a “total and reckless disregard” for saving his son’s life. Bramlett asked the judge to impose the maximum sentence for Shooster.
The victim’s death was linked to a spike in recent overdose deaths from fentanyl, according to the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office.
Fentanyl is 80-100 times more potent than morphine, according to a previous story in The Bellingham Herald. A single dose the size of a pinhead can be lethal.
The first recognized cases of fentanyl pills, known as “M30s,” found on a suspect occurred during an arrest in Whatcom County in 2018, according to a previous news release from the sheriff’s office.
Since then, there were four fentanyl-related overdose deaths in 2019, and 23 fentanyl-related deaths in 2020 — a 475% increase.
There were at least 11 fentanyl-related deaths in the first three months of 2021. Current totals on fentanyl-related deaths for the year were not immediately available.
A ripple effect
Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Evan Jones said that this event had an effect on a large number of people, not just Shooster and the victim. Jones said Shooster’s actions and decisions in the case are bigger than him and decided to take that into account.
Jones said Shooster’s consequences needed to be bigger than just what Shooster needed moving forward and needed to recognize the effects his behavior had on other people. Jones said Shooster will be able to engage in treatment while in prison, but declined to approve the drug offender sentencing alternative.
Jones ultimately sentenced Shooster to five years in prison, which was in the middle of the standard range.
“In recognition of the fact that although the crimes are motivated by addiction and the need for treatment is real, there are particular times and particular crimes when that addiction reaches out and has such a profound effect on others in the community that sentences need to reflect that,” Jones said.
