LANCASTER COUNTY, Pa.– A Columbia man is set to serve up to a decade in prison for providing the heroin that caused a woman’s death last year.
Robert Kitch, 30, pleaded guilty as part of a plea agreement on Tuesday to drug delivery resulting in death. He also pleaded guilty to drug-dealing charges and was sentenced to concurrent prison and probation terms.
In exchange for his plea, Kitch will serve 5 to 10 years in prison. Kitch was also ordered to pay $7,990 in restitution for funeral costs.
On Nov. 9, 2016, Kitch provided a 23-year-old woman with 5 bags of heroin at a location on W. King Street in Lancaster City. The next day, the woman was found dead in a vehicle that was towed from a location near the spot of the deal.
An autopsy determined that the woman died of acute morphine toxicity, with morphine being a byproduct of heroin.
In court, Kitch told Judge Joseph Madenspacher he was a heroin user and had been selling drugs for about a year.
“I think this is downright despicable,” Judge Madenspacher told Kitch.
Now, Kitch will serve time in prison.