Lisle man admits providing drugs in fatal overdose

A Lisle man was sentenced today to 20 years in prison for giving his neighbor enough of an illegal drug that could "kill a rhino" he warned her before she died.

Albert Oldenburg, 41, pleaded guilty to drug-induced homicide. He admitted providing a powerful drug that he concocted in his apartment.

The police investigation began Aug. 27, 2006, after his neighbor, Crystal A. Coble, 29, died of an overdose after visiting his apartment at 2631 Beau Bien Court.

A forensic pathologist who conducted the autopsy detected more than 20 times the therapeutic amount of fentanyl, a narcotic prescription painkiller, as well as a nonlethal amount of cocaine.

Prosecutor Paul Marchese said Oldenburg stole fentanyl patches from a family member, boiled them in water and a gasoline anti-freeze, extracted the fentanyl, and gave it to Coble.

"She smoked it and died," Marchese said. "When she died, the police found her clutching a phone. The last number she dialed was (Oldenburg)."

Police in Lisle, Naperville and the DuPage County sheriff's office wore hazardous-materials suits while searching Oldenburg's apartment. They recovered more prescription fentanyl patches, 1.5 pounds of marijuana, and several meth manufacturing chemicals and other paraphernalia consistent with someone who is setting up a home-based lab.

Marchese said witnesses who were with Oldenburg when he gave Coble the drugs said he warned her the amount was enough "to kill a rhino." Police think she smoked it all at once, though, because none was left when they searched her apartment.

In a secretly recorded conversation, Oldenburg admitted to one of the witnesses that he gave Coble the drug because she was a pest. There was no evidence that money was exchanged.

"He's not a bad guy," defense attorney Rajeev Bajaj said. "He felt terrible about what happened. He tried telling her not to take the drugs but she kept begging and pestering him. He eventually gave in."

Oldenburg faced up to 30 years in prison under a recent law that makes it easier for prosecutors to go after drug suppliers involved in such fatalities. He must serve half the 20-year prison term before being eligible for parole.

Coble, whose married name was Ericksen, was from Texas but most recently lived across the hall from Oldenburg in the Lisle apartment complex.

Oldenburg has a prior felony conviction for a 1993 aggravated arson in Bolingbrook in which he was sentenced to four years in prison. He also was convicted of criminal damage to property.