GOSHEN – A Port Jervis woman who had illegally sold oxycodone to a disabled Port Jervis man that led to his death on April 18, 2018, was sentenced by Orange County Court Judge William DeProspo on Wednesday to one to three years in state prison on her guilty plea to criminally negligent homicide. Katelynn Smith, 24, was also sentenced to six years in prison, to run concurrently with the homicide sentence, on the drug sale conviction.
When she pled guilty in October, Smith admitted that she illegally sold oxycodone to a quadriplegic man in his Port Jervis home and that she helped him take the pills by crushing them and rolling up a dollar bill for him to snort the crushed pills. Smith acknowledged that she knew the man was drinking vodka at the time and that he took other medications, including Klonopin, a sedative.
The man died after Smith left him alone. Autopsy findings revealed the man’s cause of death was from a combination of oxycodone, alcohol and the active ingredient in Klonopin.
District Attorney David Hoovler said Smith’s conviction may represent the first time in Orange County history that a defendant has been convicted of homicide as a result of illegally selling drugs. He credited the Port Jervis City Police Department for their efforts in the investigation and prosecution in the case.
