Jeannette woman's turnaround not enough to avoid jail time in overdose death

A former Hempfield woman told a judge on Thursday she never really knew the man who died from the drugs she sold him in 2019, but, in the two years since his overdose, she got sober, got married, gave birth to a daughter and has turned her life around.

Hollie Ann Schreiber, 41, now of Jeannette, pleaded guilty in January to counts of drug delivery resulting in death and conspiracy in connection with the Jan. 14, 2019, overdose death of 28-year-old Christopher Holleran. She was sentenced Thursday to serve up to nearly two years in jail.

“I want you to know how sorry I am for what happened to Mr. Holleran,” Schreiber said, noting she only was aware of who he was from one of her two co-defendants. “There were five of us who took that heroin that day. I could have killed the child I had growing inside of me that I didn’t even know about.”

Schreiber, whose young daughter sat in her lap through much of Thursday’s hearing, was sentenced by Westmoreland County Judge Meagan Bilik-DeFazio to serve one year, less a day, to two years, less a day, in jail and and an additional three years on probation. She has served about four months in jail but was released to house arrest in July 2019 to give birth to her now 18-month-old daughter.

The judge ordered Schreiber to report to the county prison on April 15 to begin serving her sentence.

Reading a prepared statement, Schreiber called herself a recovering addict whose battle with drugs put her life into a spiral that she could not get out of until she completed treatment and became a new mother.

Police said Schreiber and another man drove to a Monroeville gas station to purchase heroin and later sold five stamp bags of drugs to Holleran, who was put into contact with them by an acquaintance.

Holleran was found dead in his bed by his live-in girlfriend in an apartment they shared with their infant son.

Cassandra Kozlowski testified Holleran’s death left her a single parent struggling to support her son.

“Her actions still have impact on the lives of Christopher’s loved ones,” Kozlowski said.

Defense attorney Patricia Elliot-Rentler asked that Schreiber spend no additional time in jail.

“This is a woman who is rife with remorse,” Elliot-Rentler said.

Assistant District Attorney Jim Lazar said Schreiber did not earn leniency. He said she falsely blamed a man for selling the drugs but eventually recanted her story after investigators found no evidence to support her allegations. Schreiber’s drug dealer was never charged, Lazar said.

Lazar said a house arrest sentence for Schreiber would not serve justice.

“It’s a tragedy, but she has to answer for what she had done,” Lazar said.

Andrew Hohn, 35, of Hempfield, who police said drove with Schreiber to purchase the drugs, pleaded guilty in October to drug delivery resulting in death and conspiracy counts and was sentenced to serve 5 to 10 years in prison.

Charges of drug delivery resulting in death and conspiracy against Francesco Ziegler, 30, of Irwin, who police said is the man who put Holleran into contact with Schreiber and Hohn, still are pending. Ziegler is free on $5,000 unsecured bond as he awaits trial.