A FATHER'S PERSISTENCE: Son's drug dealer to be sentenced in
fatal overdose
June 01, 2007
The sign marks a father's pledge, and a "Thank You" to those who
helped him fulfill it.
"Dad stood over my brother's casket and swore he'd get the one
who did it to him," said Patricia Towle. "Well, we feel we were
able to keep that promise at last."
Billy Joe Towle Jr., 28, died of a fentanyl overdose last
September. Two weeks ago, the Towle family of Riverview put up a
billboard in its yard thanking the local and federal drug agents
and the Wayne County Prosecutor's Office for tracking down and
arresting the man the family contends sold the illicit drug.
The man, Gregory (Snoop) Finley, 34, of River Rouge will face up
to 20 years in prison at his sentencing today in Wayne County
Circuit Court after pleading guilty to two counts of delivering
drugs, though he is likely to receive a much shorter term.
After his son died, Bill Towle Sr. urged officials to go after
the dealer.
"It's a father's love for his son," said Wayne County Sheriff
Warren Evans. "This is the first time we've been thanked like
this."
Fentanyl is blamed in the deaths of 230 people in Wayne County
from September 2005 to December 2006.
Prosecutor Kym Worthy said it is important to pursue dealers and
not to demean users whose lives are lost or ruined by drugs.
Evans said that "law enforcement is not the enemy" when
addiction strikes relatives or friends. "Get the information to
us. It's not betrayal, it's helping save lives.".
|