Arnold man appeals 20-year prison sentence connected to drug overdose death

An Arnold man claims his 20-year prison sentence for the sale of drugs connected to the 2014 fatal overdose of a Lower Burrell woman is excessive.

In an appeal filed Monday, the lawyer for Demetrius Houser claims prosecutors agreed to more disproportionate and lenient sentences against two co-defendants who served as cooperating witnesses during a four-day trial in 2016.

Houser, 25, was convicted by a Westmoreland County jury of drug delivery resulting in death and other offenses in connection with the overdose of 32-year-old Christina Donati-Racioppo in her home. Prosecutors say Houser was at the top of the drug chain and the main supplier of the deadly fentanyl-laced heroin that was stamped with the word “Theraflu” on its packaging and which caused Donati-Racioppo’s death.

Donati-Racioppo’s boyfriend, Derek Miller, testified at trial he purchased the drugs from Kristy Sue Guzzi, and Guzzi told jurors she bought the heroin from Houser.

A previous appeal filed on behalf of Houser was denied by the state’s Superior Court in 2017.

Defense attorney Chris Rand Eyster, in the current appeal, accused Houser’s former lawyer of failing to properly seek a revised sentence.

“The record reveals that petitioner’s alleged accomplices, Derek Miller and Kristy Guzzi, both white, received lenient non-incarceration sentences. On the other hand, petitioner, an African American, received a maximum upper sentence of 20 years that was grossly disproportionate to the sentences of his accomplices,” Eyster wrote.

According to court records, Miller, 38, of Apollo pleaded guilty to multiple drug counts and was sentenced to serve a 2- to 23-month jail sentence and probation. Guzzi, 36, of Vandergrift also pleaded guilty to drug charges and was ordered to serve 10 years on probation.

Houser’s appeal includes allegations that his former defense lawyer did not ask for proper jury instructions during the trial and failed to seek a mistrial after jurors initially reported they could not reach a verdict. Less than 20 minutes later, the jury returned with a guilty finding, according to the appeal.