Man gets sentenced in drug OD death

A man involved in a drug deal and the ensuing overdose death of a Tamaqua woman will serve a 24-month state intermediate punishment sentence.

Schuylkill County Judge Charles M. Miller ruled last week in the case of Jonathan J. Seekins, 36, of Coaldale.

Seekins had pleaded guilty to criminal solicitation — manufacture, delivery, or possession with intent to manufacture or deliver in November. Charges of drug delivery resulting in death and intent to possess a controlled substance by a person not registered were dropped. Seekins was arrested on the three charges April 1, 2016, by Pennsylvania State Police trooper Joseph Hall.

According to the arrest report, Melanie L. Kropp of Mahanoy City and Alexandria Sienkiewicz of Tamaqua traveled with Seekins to the home of Kyle J. Merenda, Barnesville and bought 50 bags of heroin. The following morning, Tammy Sienkiewicz found her daughter Alexandria, 23, deceased on her bed. She died of fentanyl toxicity, according to the autopsy.

The 24-month intermediate punishment sentence includes seven months confinement at a state correctional facility, four months placement in an alcohol or drug therapeutic community, a minimum of two months in a community-based alcohol or drug therapeutic community followed by six months outpatient treatment and supervised reintegration into the community.

Upon completion of the state intermediate punishment sentence, Seekins will be on probation for five years. He must pay restitution of $915.66, and $160 in costs. While on probation he may be subject to random drug screenings.

In June 2018, a Schuylkill County jury returned a not-guilty verdict in the trial of Merenda. Kropp, after attending a drug rehabilitation program in Florida, was sentenced to the county ARD program for 12 months, beginning Feb. 21.