Man gets 6 years in friend’s fatal overdose
An Ingleside man who pleaded guilty to selling his friend a fatal dose of potent pain medication was sentenced to six years in prison Wednesday.
However, Brian Stedronsky, 33, will serve 50 percent of the sentence handed down by Lake County Judge Mark Levitt because the Ingleside man pleaded guilty to attempted drug-induced homicide, a class 1 felony that comes with a day-for-day credit for the time he will serve. He’ll also get credit for time already served in Lake County jail.
Stedronsky cried through a statement to Levitt, in which he took full blame for the death of friend Jeffrey Ferris, 30, after the two were partying the night of Sept. 18, 2012.
Ferris was found dead in his home on the 34000 block of Oden Drive in Ingleside after he cut open a patch of the highly potent drug, Fentanyl, and ingested it, authorities said.
“I wish I could turn back the hands of time to make things right, but I can’t,” Stedronsky said in court. “But, I want Jeff’s family to know how truly sorry I am for their loss.”
Stedronsky, of the 35000 block of North Milwaukee Avenue, and his mother, Carolyn, were arrested and charged with drug-induced homicide Dec. 4 for supplying Ferris with the Fentanyl patch, authorities said.
According to drugs.com, Fentanyl is a highly addictive medication used to control chronic pain. Authorities said the patch was prescribed to another person living in Stedronsky’s home following back surgery, but Carolyn sold it to her son for $20.
Carolyn Stedronsky, 52, also of the 35000 block of North Milwaukee Avenue in Ingleside, agreed earlier this year to plead guilty to a charge of unlawful possession of drugs and admitted she sold the Fentanyl patch.
She faces up to 15 years in prison and is due to be sentenced Thursday.
Scott Ferris said during a victim impact statement there isn’t a day that goes by where he doesn’t mourn the loss of his brother.
“I can still remember the day that my parents came home from the hospital with him. I was so happy to have a little brother,” Scott Ferris said. “The hole he has left in the family is enormous.”
Brian Stedronsky is getting credit for spending 288 days in Lake County jail, spanning time from his arrest until his sentencing.
He requested and was granted drug counseling while serving time at the Illinois Department of Corrections.