Tri-Cities man convicted for delivering drugs, but acquitted of causing woman’s death
A convicted drug dealer will serve two and a half years in prison after delivering methamphetamine to a woman who died.
But jurors didn’t agree that Vincent Anthony Garrison, 34, delivered a fatal dose of drugs to his girlfriend, Karina Cadengo, 28.
Prosecutors tried to convict Garrison of the relatively rare charge of controlled substance homicide, but a jury acquitted him following a weeklong trial earlier this month.
The jury did find him guilty of delivering drugs to Cadengo. He faced between just under two years and five years in prison after having four previous convictions, all in 2020, for delivering illegal drugs in Benton County
Deputy Prosecutor Joe Faurholt asked for the maximum end of the sentencing range during a recent hearing. He pointed out that Garrison had violated terms of his previous sentences that required drug treatment.
Defense Attorney Michael Vander Sys asked for the bottom of the range.
Judge Norma Rodriguez agreed to a two-and-half year sentence, and when he’s released, he will need to get drug and alcohol treatment.
Overdose
Garrison was arrested in March after Franklin County sheriff’s deputies were called to 5919 N. Road 58 after a report of an unconscious woman who was not breathing. While people at the scene tried CPR and Narcan, Cadengo couldn’t be saved.
When detectives arrived, Garrison and another man were on the scene. He told detectives that he used fentanyl while Cadengo used methamphetamine, according to court documents.
He last saw her at 8 a.m. before he fell asleep and when he woke up at 2 p.m., Cadengo was face down on the bed and there was a piece of foil with black residue on the bed between them. When he rolled her over, she was blue.
He believed she must have taken fentanyl at some point but didn’t know when. He called his friend to bring Narcan and then called 911.
Garrison admitted to buying the methamphetamine for Cadengo.
Cadengo was found to have methamphetamine, cocaine and fentanyl in her system. It is not clear which one of the drugs led to her death, according to court documents.
