Heroin Dealer Sentenced to 16 Years in Federal Prison
DALLAS - A 37-year-old heroin dealer and his three co-conspirators, including two women who injected a Dallas teenage girl with a fatal dose of that heroin in March 2014, were sentenced this week in federal court in Dallas, announced U.S. Attorney John Parker of the Northern District of Texas.
On Monday, Jimison Erik Coleman, 37, of Los Angeles, California, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sam A. Lindsay to 16 years in federal prison. He pleaded guilty in August 2015 to one count of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute heroin, stemming from his role in the March 2014 heroin overdose death of a Dallas teenage girl, Rian Hannah Lashley.
Co-conspirator Cierra Allyn Rounds, 28, was sentenced on Monday by Judge Lindsay to 13 years in in federal prison. She pleaded guilty in March 2015 to the same offense.
Today, the two remaining coconspirators, who also pleaded guilty to the same offense, Kathryn Grace Dirks, a/k/a “Kat," 26, and Glen William Brunton, 29, both of Dallas, were sentenced by Judge Lindsay to 13 years and five years, respectively.
“This case is a tragic yet perfect example of why we prosecute those who peddle poison to our children," said U.S. Attorney Parker. “Heroin, and the prescription opioids like OxyContin and hydrocodone that fuel its demand, are killing our loved ones and tearing our families apart. This is the fastest growing and most dangerous drug threat in north Texas today and throughout this country. Opioid overdoses have reached epidemic proportions as they have tripled since 2000. Heroin deaths alone have tripled in just four years. Shockingly, eighty people a day die from opioid overdose in this country, and thirty of those, like Rian, from heroin. The cost of dealing this poison is going to be steep, particularly when people die. That’s our job."
According to documents filed in the case, Coleman and Dirks were involved in a romantic relationship in 2013 and part of 2014, and during the time they were together, Coleman routinely distributed drugs, including heroin, MDMA and prescription drugs, to dancers and patrons at a strip club in Dallas where Dirks worked and at clubs in Southern California. Sometimes Coleman fronted quantities of drugs to particular dancers who, at his direction, sold the drugs to patrons and/or other dancers with whom they came in contact. On occasion, Dirks directed customers who were interested in purchasing drugs to Coleman, and in return, Coleman provided Dirks with heroin and other drugs to support her drug addiction. From December 2013 until April 2015, Coleman distributed multiple grams of heroin, multiple hits of ecstasy and molly, multiple ounces of cocaine and various prescription drugs to numerous customers in North Texas and elsewhere.
Early in the morning on March 25, 2014, Coleman, Dirks, Rounds, Brunton and Lashley met for breakfast at an IHOP restaurant in Plano, Texas. Coleman had provided Dirks, Rounds and Brunton with heroin on numerous occasions prior to that date. Rounds and the others learned that Lashley had about $3,500, a cell phone and an iPad.
Later that morning in a parking lot near the IHOP, Coleman gave Brunton five baggies totaling one gram of “China White" heroin and directed him to deliver the heroin to Lashley, who was with Dirks and Rounds in Lashley’s vehicle. At Coleman’s direction, Brunton distributed the heroin to Lashley for $120 cash that he subsequently turned over to Coleman. After acquiring the heroin, Rounds, Dirks and Lashley left the parking lot in Lashley’s vehicle and traveled to a residence in Dallas where Rounds lived. Coleman and Brunton left the parking lot in a separate vehicle.
On the way to that residence, Rounds used Lashley’s cell phone to send a series of text messages to Coleman, including information about their proximity to the residence and a text advising him that “…I figured ud want me on this money." Rounds admitted that when she sent this text to Coleman, she was notifying him that she understood that she was to attempt to steal the money Lashley had and turn it over to Coleman. As Rounds and the others arrived at the Dallas residence, Rounds sent another text message to Coleman asking if she should take Lashley and Dirks inside. Coleman texted back, “Don’t leave don’t let them leave." Rounds understood the message to mean to take Lashley into the residence and keep her there. In fact, later that afternoon, Dirks turned over a portion or all of Lashley’s cash to Coleman.
Once inside the Dallas residence, at Lashley’s request, Rounds and Dirks used a syringe to inject the heroin that Coleman supplied into Lashley. Just before doing that, however, Rounds sent Coleman a text stating “…ima bout to shoot her up for her first time." Rounds admitted that she hoped the heroin injection would incapacitate Lashley in such a way to allow her to steal Lashley’s cash. Lashley was injected a total of three times.
Later that afternoon, Lashley began showing signs of distress and Rounds and Dirks placed her in a bathtub of ice water in an attempt to reverse the effects of the heroin. After she was removed from the bathtub, Lashley was placed on a couch and appeared to go to sleep.
Rian Lashley died later that evening as a direct result of the heroin she bought from Coleman that was administered to her. An autopsy concluded that Lashley died as a result of the toxic effects of heroin.
The Dallas Police Department, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Buena Park, California, Police Department investigated. Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant U.S. Attorney Rick Calvert and Assistant U.S. Attorney Phelesa Guy prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
