Stephen R. Wigginton, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that Scott T. Weldon, 34, of Belleville, Illinois, was sentenced on Friday, September 16, 2011 to eight years in prison for Distribution of Heroin Resulting in Death. Weldon pled guilty in United States District Court on May 5, 2011 to providing the heroin which killed David L. Roth.

Roth, of Belleville, was 56 years old when he died. Roth’s body was discovered by Belleville police at his residence on January 29, 2010, approximately six days after his overdose death.

According to evidence presented at the time Weldon pled guilty, Roth and Weldon pooled their cash and drove to Edgemont, Illinois on January 23, 2010. In Edgemont, Weldon purchased $120 of heroin from a dealer he knew. Weldon and Roth then returned to Roth’s Belleville residence where the two men ingested the heroin which Weldon and bought.

When Roth passed out, Weldon tried unsuccessfully to revive Roth by pouring ice water on his groin. Weldon believed that Roth was alive and just sleeping soundly when Weldon left Roth’s residence. Weldon did not call 9-1-1 because he thought Roth would “sleep it off” and survive.

The investigation that resulted in Weldon’s conviction was conducted by the Belleville Police Department and by the United States Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert L. Garrison.

 

 

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