Tragedy Upon Tragedy –
May 30, 2019 – Now 23 and finally sober, Semler is slated to spend two decades in prison for sharing what turned out to be a fatal dose of heroin with her friend. In what has become an increasingly common — and controversial — way of responding to the opioid epidemic, prosecutors charged her with distribution of heroin resulting in death, a federal statute that carries a mandatory 20-year minimum sentence and was initially intended to crack down on drug dealers. On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Gene E.K. Pratter sentenced her to 21 years in prison with six years of supervised release and a $2,500 fine.
