ST. LOUIS COUNTY, Mo. – A federal judge has sentenced a drug runner who provided a deadly dose of fentanyl to a St. Louis County woman several years ago.

Jerome Middleton, 46, of Calverton Park, has been sentenced to 13.5 years in prison. He pleaded guilty to a felony charge of knowingly distributing fentanyl (resulting in death) earlier this year.

According to his plea agreement, Middleton would collect money from people, buy drugs, and keep some of the drugs for himself while making trips as a drug runner. Middleton bought six capsules containing fentanyl in St. Louis and kept three for himself, per his plea.

Middleton also admitted going to the victim’s home on the four days preceding her death to provide her with narcotics, supplying the deadly fentanyl around Nov. 27, 2020.

Police found the victim deceased after concerns from family friends. The victim left behind a 4-year-old daughter and 20-month old son.

“DEA takes deaths by illegal drugs very seriously,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, lead of Drug Enforcement Administration investigations in Eastern Missouri. “We can’t say it often enough: if you are a drug dealer and your poison kills someone, we will do everything to make sure you spend time in jail. This sentence is proof of that objective.”

This case was investigated by the Florissant Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration.