Judge Sentences Pittsburgh Man to 5 Years in Prison for Supplying the Heroin that Resulted in Man’s Death in Oakland Hotel Room

PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Edward Skrine was sentenced to 60 months in prison for conspiring to distribute heroin in January 2015, United States Attorney Scott W. Brady announced today.

Skrine, age 61 of Pittsburgh, was sentenced by United States District Judge Mark R. Hornak. Judge Hornak also ordered Skrine to serve three years of supervised release following his release from prison. As part of Skrine’s conviction and sentence, he accepted responsibility for causing the overdose death of a customer in January 2015 and agreed to pay restitution to the customer’s family for expenses related to the death.

The information presented to the Court in support of the conviction and sentence revealed that, during the evening of January 25, 2015, P.W., age 47, suffered a fatal drug overdose in a hotel room in the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. He died from heroin he and his friend purchased earlier that day. Detectives with the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, in conjunction with members of the Drug Enforcement Administration, promptly investigated who was responsible for supplying the heroin that killed P.W. The investigation led to an undercover purchase of heroin from Anthony McCullough two days later. McCullough and Skrine, who was McCullough’s direct supplier, were arrested at that time and were subsequently indicted and convicted in federal court in Pittsburgh.

Assistant United States Attorney Craig W. Haller prosecuted this case on behalf of the United States.

The Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Allegheny County Sheriff’s Office, and the Allegheny County Medical Examiner’s Office conducted the investigation leading to the conviction and sentence in this case.