Pubdate: Tue, 07 Nov 2006 Source: Roanoke Times (VA) Copyright: 2006 Roanoke Times Contact: http://www.roanoke.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/368 Note: First priority is to those letter-writers who live in circulation area. Author: Lindsey Nair Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin) MAN GETS 2 YEARS FOR HEROIN SALE The 21-Year-Old Sold The Drug To Two WSLS (Channel 10) Meteorologists A man who sold heroin to two WSLS (Channel 10) meteorologists was sentenced Monday to two years in prison, a much better deal than the life sentence he originally faced. Gilbert Dennis Hadden, 21, pleaded guilty in August to conspiracy and distribution of heroin after a lack of evidence saved him from an earlier charge of causing serious bodily injury or death. "You have flown very close to what could have been a terrible tragedy," said U.S. District Court Judge Samuel Wilson. The bodily injury charge stemmed from the near-fatal overdose by former weatherman Marc Lamarre at a South Roanoke duplex in February. Lamarre has since left WSLS. According to prosecutors, Hadden supplied heroin to Chad Rhudolph Honaker, 33, who then sold it to Lamarre at a party at the duplex that night. After buying the drugs, Lamarre disappeared into the bathroom twice and complained of stomach problems before collapsing and striking his head on a computer desk, said prosecutor Don Wolthuis. But witnesses said another friend had given Lamarre some Lortab, a prescription painkiller, before he got the heroin, Wolthuis said. Despite evidence that Lamarre bought heroin at the party, tests later turned up no heroin in his system. Other evidence indicated he may have overdosed on the prescription drugs Lortab and Xanax instead, officials said. The day after Lamarre's collapse, Honaker admitted his role in the case to police and agreed to trap Hadden by calling him and arranging more heroin transactions, officials said. Current WSLS meteorologist Jamey Singleton later publicly admitted that he, too, had been addicted to heroin. Singleton was not at the house with his friend and co-worker the night of the overdose, and neither Lamarre nor Singleton was charged in the case. Honaker pleaded guilty along with Hadden to the same charges in August. He was scheduled to be sentenced Monday, but his attorney requested a continuance to reply to two last-minute motions filed by Wolthuis. On Monday, Wilson told Hadden that he clearly had a difficult upbringing. His parents were both crack addicts and he grew up in the projects in Michigan, practically raising himself. But Wilson said Hadden has the rest of his life in front of him. "I have given you the benefit that you're going to make something of your life from here on out," Wilson said. Roanoke attorney David Damico, who represented Hadden, said the case and all the publicity has been "upsetting and embarrassing" for his client. "This has been a wake-up call for him," Damico said. - --- MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman