Cincinnati Man Sentenced to 26 Years for Distributing Fentanyl Resulting in Overdose Death

COVINGTON, Ky. — A Cincinnati, Ohio man has been sentenced to 26 years in federal prison for providing drugs to someone who died of an overdose in the Kenton County jail.

Today, U.S. District Judge Amul Thapar sentenced Michael Howard, 42, for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and morphine that resulted in an overdose death.  Three of Howard’s co-defendants, Kimberly Mullins, Lisa Lattimore and Lynette Ball, received sentences of 244, 160, and 144 months, respectively, for their roles in the drug conspiracy.  All four defendants must serve at least 85 percent of their sentences. 

Howard pleaded guilty in June 2016 and admitted that he had been supplying heroin to Jamie Green for several months while Green was in custody in Campbell and Kenton Counties.  Mullins arranged for the substances to be delivered to her daughter, Jamie Green, through other inmates on work release.  Howard admitted supplying a substance that contained fentanyl and morphine to Mullins on September 4, 2014 for delivery to Green.  Mullins delivered the substance to Green in the Kenton County Jail through the assistance of co-defendants Ball and Lattimore.  Green used the substance and died of an overdose shortly thereafter on September 5, 2014.    

A federal grand jury in Covington returned an indictment on November 12, 2015 charging Howard, Mullins, Lattimore, and Ball with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death.  Mullins, Lattimore, and Ball pleaded guilty on March 29, 2016 to this offense. 

Kerry B. Harvey, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Kentucky, and Timothy J. Plancon, Special Agent in Charge, Drug Enforcement Administration, jointly announced the sentence.  The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Kenton County Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Bracke represented the federal government in this matter.