Bethel man sentenced for disposing body of 51-year-old OD death victim, prosecutors say
A Bethel man was sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for disposing of the body of another man who died from an overdose early last year, officials said.
The sentencing came after Zachary Scott, 31, pleaded guilty to gross abuse of a corpse and tampering with evidence, the Clermont County Prosecutor's Office said Thursday in a news release.
Scott, 51-year-old Shane Bruce and two other people drove to Cincinnati to buy heroin, prosecutors said. After they came back to Clermont County, and the two other passengers were dropped off, Bruce overdosed and died while with Scott.
Scott then left Bruce's body in a location that remains unknown and misdirected the investigation into Bruce's disappearance by providing several false locations to authorities, the prosecutor's office said.
On Jan. 21, 2022, Scott called 911 and said Bruce overdosed at the 2400 block of Laurel Point Isabel Road in Washington Township, then reported that Bruce "took off" after he administered a dose of Narcan, according to the Clermont County Sheriff's Office.
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Deputies searched the area but didn't find Bruce, officials said, adding his parents reported him missing the next day.
Two days after the reported overdose, Scott admitted to investigators that he lied in his 911 call, saying instead that Bruce actually ran off near the 1600 block of Beckelhymer Road in Moscow, Ohio, a criminal complaint states. Scott told a detective that he searched in the cold for Bruce for several hours but never found the man.
The sheriff's office said in court filings that Scott's later statements to detectives were misleading as well and that Scott also denied going to Cincinnati to buy drugs, though Bruce's phone records and witness statements proved otherwise.
In the months after Bruce went missing, detectives searched throughout Washington Township using drones, bloodhounds and cadaver dogs, but each time they came up empty-handed.
"Unfortunately, no amount of prison time will truly hold Scott accountable for the pain and suffering that he has caused," Clermont County Prosecutor Mark Tekulve said in a statement. "We have reserved the right to prosecute Scott, should new evidence come to light that points to additional crimes."
Ohio's Good Samaritan Law grants immunity to prosecution for a minor drug possession or drug paraphernalia offense for the person who overdosed and the person who called 911 to seek help.
State officials say it's important to call 911 because naloxone, commonly known by a brand, Narcan, can wear off and lead someone to start overdosing again.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Bethel man gets 5 years for leaving person's body after OD death
