Maurice Cathey, Of Chicago, Sentenced To Life For Man's Fatal Overdose In South Dakota

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — A Chicago man accused of dealing the heroin laced with fentanyl that killed a man in Sioux Falls has been sentenced to life in federal prison.

A jury in November convicted Maurice Cathey, 39, also known as Short, on several counts, including distribution of a controlled substance resulting in death. He was sentenced on Monday.

Authorities said a 22-year-old man suffered a fatal overdose at a Sioux Falls apartment in January 2018. The man obtained the drugs from a friend who received them from Cathey.

Prosecutors cited several other cases when people overdosed on drugs that were distributed by Cathey and another man. None of them died, but several had to be revived by paramedics using the antidote naloxone.

"The sentencing of this career felon to life in prison brings a fitting end to one of the saddest chapters in the history of Sioux Falls," U.S. Attorney Ron Parsons said. "But the story of how our community came together to defeat the opioid crisis is not yet finished, and we all have much more work to do."