Jun 8, 2019 2 min read

A judge on Friday imposed a sentence of 15 to 30 years on a Philadelphia man who was the first to stand trial in Washington County for drug delivery resulting in death.

A jury convicted Michael Martin, 36, of causing the drug overdose death of Stacey L. Greenawalt, 30, 2½ years ago, along with related charges.

State law was rewritten in 2011 to make it possible to convict someone for “drug delivery resulting in death” without having to prove an intention to kill the victim.

Greenawalt’s father found her dead after she collapsed in the bathroom of his Fredericktown area home in December 2016 after she had been staying elsewhere with Martin.

Laboratory tests showed she had died of combined toxicity of heroin, fentanyl and cocaine.

Judge Gary Gilman, who presided at Martin’s trial in March, heard statements from Greenawalt’s friends and family at the sentencing Friday.

Megin Appel, a friend of Greenawalt’s, told of feeling “emptiness that no one will have her here anymore” and expressing sadness that Greenawalt’s two young children have lost forever nurturing from their mother.

They said Martin, who maintained his innocence, showed no emotion and declined to apologize.

After the verdict, Martin’s court-appointed attorney, Mark Adams, said he expects to appeal the case to Superior Court.

Assistant District Attorney Rachel Wheeler requested a sentence of 16 to 32 years because Martin, who was on parole, was convicted on a host of charges involving drug possession and dealing plus illegal possession of firearms as a convicted felon in addition to the death.

Martin and others were staying at a house on Martindale Road near Fredericktown at the time of his initial arrest Dec. 8, 2016, when state police executed a search warrant and confiscated evidence of drug dealing.