Woman gets up to 7 years in two Schuylkill drug cases

A former Coaldale woman convicted last month of drug violations, but acquitted of giving a fatal dose of fentanyl to a man who died, will spend up to seven years in state prison.

Kayla M. Leibowitz, 29, pregnant with her fourth child, showed no emotion as Schuylkill County President Judge William E. Baldwin imposed a sentence of a total of 3½ to seven years, with credit for the 235 days she’s already served, for drug-related charges in two cases.

Leibowitz drew a rebuke from Baldwin after she asked for a “couple weeks” more of freedom to spend the holidays with her children.

Baldwin, observing that she and her boyfriend had used and sold drugs with the children in the house, denied her request.

He also admonished her for failing to arrange care for the children when she knew she would likely be taken directly to prison after her sentencing.

Even if Baldwin had agreed to the request, Leibowitz was immediately taken to jail anyway because she is wanted on three outstanding warrants from Carbon County. She said she knew nothing of the warrants before Thursday.

Her sentences involved two cases.

Drug death

In one, she was charged with drug delivery resulting in death, delivery of a controlled substance, criminal use of a communication facility and possession of a controlled substance for giving drugs to George Dougherty, 25, of Coaldale. Dougherty died of acute fentanyl toxicity on March 9, 2017.

During her trial, Leibowitz readily admitted to having given Dougherty four packets of heroin because, she said, he was “dope sick” and needed them. The two had exchanged messages via Facebook Messenger on March 7-8, 2017.

She was charged by Coaldale Police Chief Keith A. Krapf on Aug. 17, 2017.

After two days of testimony, a jury on Oct. 23 found Leibowitz not guilty of the delivery resulting in death charge, but guilty of the remaining charges.

Leibowitz was also tried at the same time on possession of drug paraphernalia and four counts of possession of a controlled substance stemming from a traffic stop on June 21, 2017.

Dougherty’s mother, Jane Mickonis, who found her son’s body in the basement of their home, said the sentence was “just.”

Before the sentencing hearing, she said her son’s death ignited pain in her soul “the whole universe big.”

A long prison sentence “won’t bring George back,” she said, and “there is no closure with something like this.”

But “now I can put it behind me,” she said.

Berks County District Attorney Colin R. Boyer, who prosecuted the case because of a conflict of interest with Schuylkill District Attorney Michael A. O’Pake, argued for a “harsh” sentence because Leibowitz’s long drug offense history meant she knew how dangerous drugs are.

Leibowitz had many chances to rehabilitate herself, she said, but chose not to.

Now it’s time to protect the community by sending her to prison, he said.

Leibowitz’s public defender, Paul G. Domalakes, argued that Leibowitz has turned her life around after her long stay in jail. He said the stint was a “great time for reflection.”

Jail ‘saved my life’

Leibowitz took the stand during her sentencing.

She said the 235 days she spent in prison “saved my life. If I didn’t go to jail, I wouldn’t be here now.”

Leibowitz has a long history of drug offenses, but had never been jailed for long.

The stint helped her turn her life around, she said. She participated in intensive outpatient drug rehabilitation and submitted regular urine screenings.

The only time she slipped up was a week after being released from jail on Feb. 22.

“I tested positive for weed one time,” she told Baldwin.

Now, she works at a cafe in Jim Thorpe and takes care of two of her three children.

“Life’s a whole lot better when you’re not on drugs,” she said.

She said she and her boyfriend, Noel Abadia, now live with her grandmother, who broke a kneecap and depends on her for help. She said she’ll have to find another relative to help her.

As for her children, “I’m going to have to figure that out,” she told Baldwin.

He asked why her mother, or Abadia, who fathered two of the children, couldn’t care for them.

Leibowitz said she didn’t trust Abadia to do that.