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12/29/2006Man gets 24 years for overdose drug deathPolice suspect he was involved in other incidents
Romayne Sneller holds a photo of her son, Garry Sneller. “It’s been more than a year since he died, but it seems like just a month ago,” she said. CHEBOYGAN — Garry Sneller had a lot of problems. He was a drug addict and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder since his return from war in Vietnam, said his sister, Cheryl Childers, of Cheboygan. "My brother was a great guy locked inside a tortured soul,” she said. Childers said her brother stayed away from drugs for three months last year after completing a rehabilitation program, but he broke a foot and medical workers gave him a morphine shot. He died of a drug overdose a short time later. Family members believe the morphine sparked his repressed addictions. "We think this was the first time he got high since detox,” Childers said. Sneller, 55, died in October 2005 in Cheboygan County from a fentanyl overdose — illegally diverted prescription drugs he received from Robert Lee King, 41, from East Jordan. King was sentenced this month to 24 years in federal prison, plus lifetime supervision by federal agents, if he's ever released. He pleaded guilty to a federal charge of causing Sneller's death through distribution of fentanyl, obtained at a Boyne City pharmacy. It took Sneller several hours to die from the drug overdose at King's Cheboygan County residence. King never called for an ambulance and later tried to dispose of the body, Childers said. "That's what haunts me the most, wondering if he had called for help, might Garry still be alive?” said his mother, Romayne Sneller. Police said they suspected King's involvement in the drug deaths of several people in northern Michigan, although charges were filed only in the cases of Sneller and Emily Waskiewicz, 20, of East Jordan. She died in January 2005 in Charlevoix County from a methadone overdose. "He was not just circulating drugs to these two people,” said Ray Beckering, assistant U.S. attorney. "We are confident that the prosecution of Mr. King has reduced the amount of illegally diverted prescription drugs available. He was, as far as our investigation determined, one of the larger sources for prescription drugs in northern Michigan.” Beckering said King moved himself and his narcotic-selling operation to Cheboygan County after Waskiewicz's death. Childers said she's glad King will spend years behind bars, if only to keep him from selling dangerous drugs to people. "It won't bring my brother back and it's not about revenge,” she said. Two other charges against King were dropped in exchange for his guilty plea, including the charge in Waskiewicz's death and alleged conspiracy to distribute OxyContin in Charlevoix County and elsewhere between 1999 and 2004.
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