Manor man to serve up to 14 years in prison for drug sales in fatal overdoses

Westmoreland County Common Pleas Court Judge Tim Krieger said he struggled with just how much blame to assign to a man who pleaded guilty earlier this year to selling the drugs used in the fatal overdoses of two men in 2017.

“This is a scourge that is destroying our society, family by family, and we have three families affected here. I don’t know what justice is in this case,” Krieger said Friday during the sentencing hearing for Jeremy Mason of Manor.

Mason, 36, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of drug delivery resulting in death and other related offenses in connection with the April 13, 2017 overdose of 21-year-old Paul Lucas in Murrysville and the May 31, 2017 death of 30-year-old Jeffrey Gettemy Jr. in Greensburg.

In both cases, police said Mason served as the middle man who purchased drugs from a dealer in Turtle Creek and sold them to Lucas and Gettemy.

The judge ordered Mason to serve two concurrent sentences of 7 to 14 years in prison.

“This is not cancer. You don’t hold a cancer victim responsible,” Krieger said. “When we talk about this as just a disease it removes the moral consequences from the defendant. We all make choices and Mr. Mason made choices.”

Mason faced up to 40 years in prison in each case and had been in jail since his arrest in mid-2017. Defense attorney Pat Thomassey asked that Mason receive a sentence in which he would be given credit for the more than four years he has spent behind bars and paroled to serve time on house arrest.

Assistant District Attorney Anthony Iannamorelli asked that Mason serve a substantial prison sentence, but one that reflected his cooperation in the prosecution of the man who sold him the fentanyl-laced heroin he provided to Lucas and Gettemy.

He said Mason should receive a lesser sentence than the one imposed on the man from from whom bought the drugs. Demetrius Christmas, 33, of Turtle Creek, pleaded guilty to drug delivery resulting in death counts last year and was sentenced to concurrent terms of 9 to 18 years in prison.

Mason said both of the victims were his friends, and told the judge he never anticipated either would die. He said he was an addict who arranged the drug deals on their behalf to secure cheaper heroin for himself.

“I did what I did to support my addiction. I never wanted anyone to be hurt. I am really sorry, truly,” Mason said.