Meredith Fentanyl seller receives 15- to 30-year sentence after overdose death

Wilson died from the overdose at his Hale Street apartment a few hours after he purchased the drug from Fortune, a repeat criminal offender from Meredith, N.H., who was out on bail for an unrelated domestic violence charge at the time of the sale.

The sentence is less than the 20-years-to-life term that the state was seeking but more than the 10 to 20 years defense counsel Tony Hutchins sought on behalf of his client, arguing that “punishment under the law should bear some relationship to criminal intention” and “the facts are very clear that (Fortune) did not intend for Christopher Wilson to die” by selling him fentanyl.

Fortune’s 90-minute sentencing hearing in Sullivan Superior Court in Newport on Thursday morning was marked by emotionally wrought victim impact statements given by Chris Wilson’s aunt, Roseanne Wilson, and former wife and again girlfriend Jade Wilson, who each said Chris Wilson’s death wrenched a beloved family member from their lives.

Her nephew’s overdose death, Roseanne Wilson said, directly addressing Fortune, means

“He’ll never get to see (his son, nieces and nephews) graduate or get married or anything else,” Roseanne Wilson said of her nephew.

“People just have so little … anything … for life anymore,” she said, struggling to find words. “It just boggles my mind.”

Jade Wilson spoke of how Chris Wilson’s death has left their young son without a father and her straining to answer to their son’s questions.

“My son will never grow up with his dad. All I can do now is show my son pictures of his dad and where he is buried,” she said. “I try to remind him of the good times we had together, but he is young, and I don’t know if he understands. After his death, we had to move out of our apartment, and our son kept asking, ‘When are we going home?’ Unfortunately, the only thing I could say the apartment is gone. Between losing my boyfriend and son’s father and apartment, life felt impossible.”

The sentence handed down by Judge Martin Honigberg, who cited the dual needs both to punish and to deter while also recognizing the possibility of successful rehabilitation, appeared to strike a middle ground between what the state and defense each wanted. At stake is the potential for a lifetime prison sentence for defendants, like Fortune, found guilty of their drug sales causing death.

Sullivan County Assistant Attorney Justin Hersh, lead prosecutor in the case, cited Fortune’s long list of criminal offenses — he had just been released from 10 years in prison only five months into his parole when he sold the fatal dose of fentanyl to Wilson — as strong reasons that Fortune deserved a stiff 20-years-to-life sentence.

Fortune’s “criminal history speaks mightily at who this individual is” as a serial offender who “has spent his entire adult life impacting other people’s lives negatively in this state,” Hersh said.

At the same time, Hersh told the court he was “taking a bit of a risk” by not pushing for a mandatory life sentence as allowed in the law and noting that Fortune could earn five years off the minimum 20-year sentence for good behavior and successfully participating in rehabilitation programs.

Hutchins, Fortune’s court-appointed public defender, while acknowledging his client’s “intended criminal act was to sell fentanyl” nonetheless argued that “punishing someone greatly for something unintended makes no sense.”

Calling Fortune “not a sophisticated criminal,” Hutchins pointed out he suffered from ADHD as a child and in the sixth grade was sexually abused by an adult, which resulted in trauma and contributed to “impulse control issues.”

Fortune’s grandmother, Polly Fortune, told the court her grandson was born in great hope, promise and abiding love.

“Forty years ago, I was in the hospital with Donna, his mother, and in the delivery room when he was born,” said Polly Fortune, whose wheelchair had to be maneuvered so she could speak into the courtroom microphone. “I was so happy and I held him. He was a special baby, my first grandchild.” (Fortune’s mother died while he was in prison previously.)

She said her grandson “is a very needy person and needs to know he is loved.”

Then Fortune, dressed in a forest green prison jumpsuit and with his wrists strapped to a leather waist belt, rose and turned to Wilson’s family members who were seated behind him.

“I am absolutely sorry for any part I had in this situation,” Fortune said through a face mask. “I’ve been a drug addict my whole life. My brother is a drug addict. My cousins are drug addicts. My family, everyone. All drug addicts. It was absolutely not my intention to hurt that man,” Fortune said, his voice cracking. “I’m sorry,” he repeated, “I’m sorry.”

Fortune pleaded with the court to consider leniency in handing down a sentence, saying, “I also want to take responsibility because I deserve to take responsibility and deep punishment.”

“At the end of the day, Chris isn’t here. I pray for him. I pray for you guys. I don’t know what else to say. I don’t know what else to do,” he added.

After a 10-minute recess to decide the sentence, Honigberg, the judge, returned to the bench. “Days like today are among the saddest days that we deal in the system,” the judge said. “… We try to be humble in what we can and can’t do.”

As an attendant wheeled Polly Fortune past the defendant’s table, her eyes lit up and she smiled at her grandson.

Then John Fortune rose and took his grandmother’s hands into his, still shackled, and bent down to hug her.

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Contact John Lippman at jlippman@vnews.com.

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