Pubdate: Tue, 14 Aug 2001
Source: Chicago Sun-Times (IL)
Copyright: 2001 The Sun-Times Co.
Contact:  http://www.suntimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/81
Author: Dan Rozek

MAXIMUM SENTENCE IN CLUB-DRUG DEATH

A man who provided the powerful club drug that caused a Naperville 
teenager's fatal overdose last year was handed the maximum possible 
sentence Monday for that crime: five years in a state prison.

But that wasn't the worst of it for Garrett Harth, 22. He also was hit with 
a second, 15-year maximum prison term by DuPage County Judge Robert 
Anderson for an unrelated cocaine sale last year in Naperville.

The two prison sentences imposed Monday brought some comfort to the parents 
of 18-year-old Sara Aeschlimann, a Naperville Central High School senior 
who died on May 14, 2000, after overdosing at Harth's Naperville home.

''Sara's not coming back. At least, we got this guy off the street,'' said 
the girl's father, Bob Aeschlimann.

Sara Aeschlimann died after taking what she apparently thought was Ecstasy, 
a synthetic drug that's become very popular. What she actually took was a 
similar but more powerful club drug called PMA, sometimes sold as a 
substitute for Ecstasy and hard to distinguish from that drug. Aeschlimann 
was the second of three young people in the Chicago area to die of PMA 
overdoses in a three-week span last year--a series of deaths that focused 
new attention on the dangers of club drugs and prompted a change in state 
law that established tougher penalties on dealers who sell Ecstasy and 
similar drugs.

Last week, Gov. Ryan signed the new sentencing law, which takes effect in 
January. It means dealers who sell Ecstasy and similar drugs will face the 
same stiff prison terms as those selling heroin or cocaine and also makes 
it easier to level drug-induced homicide charges against dealers in cases 
of fatal overdoses like Aeschlimann's.

Harth's sentences will run concurrently. He will likely serve about 51/2 
years. ''Why did Sara have to fall prey to such an evil person?'' Jan 
Aeschlimann, the dead girl's mother, asked during testimony Monday, 
fighting back tears. ''I have never known such an evil, immoral, selfish, 
manipulative predator as Garrett Harth.'' Defense attorney Daniel Collins 
insisted that Harth wasn't to blame for Aeschlimann's death, saying that 
the two friends knowingly took what they thought were Ecstasy tablets.

''They engaged in a dangerous activity together,'' Collins said. ''Garrett 
loved Sara. This was an accident.'' In imposing his sentence, the judge 
noted that Harth delayed calling for help when he saw that Aeschlimann had 
fallen unconscious. Phone records showed Harth made at least three calls to 
friends before calling 911. Prosecutors said Harth told a jailhouse 
informant, in a conversation that was recorded, that Aeschlimann began 
having seizures at about 7:30 a.m.--two hours before Harth called for help.

''He called friends before he called for help,'' Anderson said. ''This is 
the worst type of drug dealer you can think about,'' Assistant State's 
Attorney Joseph Ruggiero said.

Harth's mother, Fran, said her son should have received some leniency 
because he had no prior felony convictions.

''It's way too much,'' she said. Harth still faces an involuntary 
manslaughter charge for allegedly slipping Aeschlimann several PMA tablets 
in a glass of water, but DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said 
it's possible that charge now will be dropped. That offense carries a 
maximum five-year sentence -- less time than Harth already has to serve on 
his two drug convictions, Birkett said.
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