The second of two Beaver County brothers convicted of dealing fentanyl that killed a young woman was sentenced Friday to the same term his brother received Thursday: 45 months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Joy Flowers Conti imposed that term on Sam McCracken, 29, of New Brighton, who along with his brother Wayne McCracken of Ambridge were the targets of a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration investigation that started in 2015.
Both brothers were originally facing much longer terms — at least 10 years — but were rewarded for their cooperation.
Sam McCracken apologized to the family of his victim, identified in court papers only as “H.P.,” who died Oct. 28, 2016, after she received fentanyl from the McCrackens’ distributor, Jeffrey Rogers of Ambridge.
“I just want them to know that I’m sorry,” he said. “I was taking advantage of other people’s addiction.”
He apologized to the community for the ravages of fentanyl and heroin to which he contributed and to his own family for the embarrassment he caused them.
His girlfriend, Breanna Purdue, who was sentenced in the same case to probation, said the two of them plan to open a car dealership when he gets out of prison. McCracken, who has a child with Purdue, said he also wants to take carpentry and business classes in prison to prepare for a future outside the criminal world.
His lawyer, Stephen Israel, said his client is pleasant, cooperative and non-violent.
“I think he deserves a chance to become a productive member of society,” he said.
Wayne McCracken and his lawyer made similar comments Thursday.
The judge gave both unusually long terms probationary terms of eight years because she said she wants to make sure someone is watching them when they re-enter society.
The brothers’ mother, Dorothy McCracken, appeared in court to support her son. She was also indicted with them and is set to plead guilty Oct. 29 to letting them use her house in Economy to store their drugs.
Rogers was previously sentenced in the same investigation to 18 years in prison.
Federal agents said the McCrackens and Rogers dealt heroin and fentanyl throughout Beaver and Allegheny counties, with Rogers as the main distributor, and all acknowledged their roles in the death of H.P.
The case against the ring started in 2015 when an informant agreed to help law officers make controlled buys from Wayne McCracken. That led to a tap of his phone that indicated he was being supplied by a man named Kevin Grace, who was sentenced this summer to 10 years in federal prison.
Wayne McCracken later switched to a source from New Jersey who had been introduced to him by Sam McCracken after he was released from prison on a prior conviction in July 2016. Prosecutors said the brothers also bought from Andre Stevenson, who is under indictment.
The wiretaps indicated that the brothers were distributing to Rogers and that after a deal on Oct. 27, Rogers sold to H.P.
The next day, he called 911 to say that she had stopped breathing.
First Published: October 12, 2018, 9:29 p.m.
