Nov 6, 2017 2 min read

A federal judge sentenced a Washington woman to five years in federal prison for providing drugs that caused an overdose last year in Chartiers Township.

U.S. District Judge Nora Barry Fischer issued the sentence Friday against Quiote M. Guarino, 26, who was indicted in May 2016 on a charge of supplying heroin and fentanyl that “caused serious bodily injury” to the person who used it. She pleaded guilty and agreed to the five-year sentence earlier this year in a deal with prosecutors. She also was sentenced to three years of probation.

Court documents contain few details of the circumstances in the case, beyond stating township police responded to a call for a heroin overdose in February 2016. The victim isn’t identified in public court filings.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Katherine King cited the safety of the victim and a confidential informant in a motion seeking to keep out of the record the police report from that incident and a recording and transcript of a phone call last year between Guarino and the confidential informant.

The prosecutor alleged Guarino made statements threatening anyone who provided authorities with information about her drug dealing, and asked those materials be withheld from the defendant to shield the victim’s identity. Fischer granted the request, letting Guarino’s attorney but not Guarino review that evidence.

In her motion, King cited several incidents in Washington as examples of Guarino’s “history of involvement with the police, much of which centered on her assault of other individuals.” In one of those cases, Guarino pleaded guilty to harassment in connection with a May 2012 assault. In September of that year, she reportedly chased a person down the street with a black handgun. She later pleaded guilty to terroristic threats.

Another victim reportedly told city police she went to a friend’s house, where Guarino confronted her, allegedly following the victim when she left, then punching and kicking her. Guarino pleaded guilty to simple assault in that case.

King also pointed to a 2012 fight allegedly involving Guarino at a Family Dollar in Washington. That alleged victim reportedly declined to press charges.