Muncie man sentenced to 35 years for role in teen's fatal overdose

MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie man convicted of providing a Bluffton teenager with the fentanyl that led to her overdose death was sentenced Wednesday to 35 years in prison.

After an August bench trial, Delaware Circuit Court 4 Judge John Feick found 23-year-old Teagon Eugene Thatcher guilty of dealing in a controlled substance resulting in death, a Level 1 felony that carried up to 40 years in prison.

Feick imposed the 35-year prison term Wednesday afternoon at the conclusion of a sentencing hearing.

According to court documents, the 17-year-old victim in the case died in Bluffton — 45 miles northeast of Muncie — on Feb. 27 as a result of an overdose.

The teen's cellphone had text messages from Thatcher indicating the victim arranged to pick up 1.5 grams of a street drug — identified as fentanyl — in Muncie on the day before her death.

At Wednesday's hearing, defense attorney Angelus Kocoshis said his client — also listed in court documents at a Decatur address — continued to maintain his innocence but regretted that the teenager had died.

Kocoshis suggested his client should receive a 25-year sentence with five years suspended.

Deputy prosecutor Andrew Ramirez — who recommended a 35-year sentence — said Thatcher's actions had killed a young woman "who had her entire life ahead of her."

Ramirez noted testimony that Thatcher had boasted about his drug-dealing activities.

In response to remarks about Thatcher's fondness for his three children, Ramirez noted the Muncie man is awaiting trial on a neglect-of-a-dependent charge filed before the dealing-resulting-in-death case.

Testifying by telephone, Thatcher's mother maintained he was a "very good person" who "just got mixed up with the wrong crowd."

The overdose victim's sister tearfully recounted the teen's struggles with addiction and said the death had left her "heartbroken."

"Did you even notice how broken she was?" the witness asked Thatcher.

In sentencing Thatcher, Feick noted his crime had been committed not because of his own drug absue, "but for financial gain."

Douglas Walker is a news reporter for The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man gets 35 years for dealing-resulting-in-death conviction