4 years in prison for Cary woman in Xanax overdose that killed 19-year-old

A Cary woman was sentenced Friday to four years in prison after pleading guilty to a reduced charge for providing alprazolam, or Xanax, to a 19-year-old in spring 2018 that resulted in a fatal overdose.

Reanna R. Salas, 20, was initially charged with drug-induced homicide in the May 2018 death of Rachel Ramirez, a crime that carries a minimum six-year prison term and a top sentence of 30 years behind bars.

McHenry County prosecutors on Friday dismissed that charge in exchange for Salas' guilty plea to a reduced charge of delivery of a controlled substance, which carried a sentencing range of two to five years in prison.

Judge Robert Wilbrandt sentenced Salas to four years in prison and assessed $2,903 in court costs and fines.

According to prosecutors, Salas gave the drugs to Jacob N. Reis, who gave the drug to his girlfriend, Ramirez.

The McHenry County coroner ruled that Ramirez died of a "polysubstance overdose," which included the alprazolam, prosecutors said.

Reis, 23, also was sentenced to four years in prison in March after pleading guilty to intent to deliver a controlled substance, records show.

Salas' case was set for a jury trial on Jan. 13, 2020, before her attorney reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

Under state law, she can have her sentence cut in half for good behavior in prison. She also gets credit for more than 10 months served at the McHenry County jail while the case was pending.