WEST OCEAN CITY, Md.- A West Ocean City woman has been sentenced to prison after being convicted of distributing the opioid painkiller fentanyl, which authorities say led to her boyfriend's fatal overdose.
The Worcester County State Attorney's Office said that on Nov. 14, Elizabeth Redding, 28, was sentenced to 20 years behind bars with all but 10 years suspended for the distribution of fentanyl charge. This conviction also resulted in a violation of Redding’s probation in another case, for which she was sentenced by Worcester County Circuit Court Judge Beau H. Oglesby to serve an additional three years in prison consecutively.
Redding will be on five years of supervised probation upon her release from the Division of Correction.
Prosecutors said the distribution charges stem from an overdose report received by the Criminal Enforcement Team of the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office on March 21. Police were called to Redding’s home in West Ocean City where they found an unresponsive male victim.
The victim was transported to Atlantic General Hospital in Berlin where he was pronounced deceased on March 23. An autopsy was conducted, which determined the cause of death to be fentanyl intoxication. While still on scene, investigators spoke with Redding who told them that the victim was her boyfriend. She stated they had both laid down to take a nap and when she awoke, she found him unresponsive.
On May 24, investigators uncovered a phone call made by Redding, who at the time was being held in the Worcester County Detention Center on a separate matter. In that phone call, Redding told a friend that on the date of the overdose, she had actually gone looking through her house for drugs to use. According to prosecutors, Redding stated that she found three “caps” in her sister’s room and that she split a “cap” with her boyfriend, causing her boyfriend’s death. Prosecutors said Redding told her friend that she didn’t tell the truth at the time because police were present and she didn’t want to be charged. Subsequently, police charged Redding with distribution of fentanyl.