ST. LOUIS – A federal judge has sentenced a St. Louis County man to life behind bars several years after he sold a deadly dose of heroin and fentanyl to a victim.

Wyland Kinney, 50, received a life sentence in the death of a Florissant man in 2018. A jury convicted Kinney of several felony charges last May.

Evidence and testimony at trial linked Kinney to the victim. Kinney reportedly sold heroin and fentanyl to the victim while he had been battling heroin addiction. The victim was living dead with his grandmother, who found him dead one evening.

Per Kinney’s indictment, autopsy and toxicology results revealed that each individual quantity of heroin and fentanyl was enough to kill the victim.

While investigating, police say there were two confidential informant purchases involving a mix of fentanyl and ketamine from Kinney. A court-approved search of Kinney’s home led authorities to six handguns, five shotguns, two rifles, an AK-style pistol, ammunition, and $6,443 in cash. They also found text messages regarding drug sales on his phone.

“Everyone is well aware illegal drugs can harm the people who find themselves dependent on these substances,” said Assistant Special Agent in Charge Colin Dickey, lead of Drug Enforcement Administration investigations in Eastern Missouri. “But families are also victims of the terrible criminal activity of drug dealing, as the grandmother of Kenney’s victim must know. The powerful narcotics available today destroy lives and families. DEA makes it a priority to ensure the destruction is shared by the dealers by putting them in prison.”

Federal court documents did not identify the victim’s name or the date of his death.