LOS ANGELES (CNS) – A 31-year-old Sherman Oaks man was sentenced Monday, Aug. 29, to 20 years behind bars for distributing fentanyl that caused the overdose deaths of two people.
Trent Tomasovich sold fentanyl to a woman who took the drug at a Woodland Hills apartment and died during the early morning hours of July 14, 2018. The 24-year-old woman was visiting a friend, who found her unresponsive and then summoned paramedics, according to the US attorney’s office.
Several hours later, the boyfriend of another woman who lived in the Woodland Hills apartment found the narcotics that the deceased woman had purchased. Ignoring his girlfriend’s request to dispose of the drugs, the 38-year-old man consumed the fentanyl and suffered a fatal overdose, according to papers filed in Los Angeles federal court.
“In this case, [the] defendant’s conduct led to two peoples’ deaths and caused permanent, irreparable damage to the loved ones they left behind,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “In other words, the seriousness of [the] defendant’s crime requires a significant sentence.”
Tomasovich has a history of being investigated by law enforcement for narcotics trafficking. In 2017, Tomasovich was identified on wiretapped phone calls as being a suspected customer of a heroin delivery service that was the subject of a federal grand jury indictment, but he was not charged in that case, according to prosecutors.
In early 2018, after he offered heroin for sale on Craigslist, Tomasovich sold the drug during an undercover operation conducted by the Glendale Police Department, which led to his conviction for drug trafficking offenses in LA County Superior Court, according to the US attorney’s office.
“Despite participating in multiple rehabilitation programs and achieving at least one extended period of sobriety, [the] defendant has been unable to stay away from the drugs that have so destroyed his and others’ lives,” federal prosecutors wrote.
Tomasovich pleaded guilty in 2019 to a federal charge of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, which carries a mandatory minimum prison sentence of 20 years.