Charged under a criminal statute commonly referred to as the Len Bias law, named for a former Maryland basketball star who died of a cocaine overdose.

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Sheboygan woman charged in drug death

BY ERIC LITKE
Sheboygan Press staff

A 24-year-old Sheboygan woman was charged Tuesday with first-degree reckless homicide for allegedly giving methadone to a woman who died after overdosing on the drug.

Noel E. Tenpas, of N6115 Woodland Road, could face up to 25 years in prison, if convicted of the rarely invoked felony.

Tenpas is charged in the death of Amy L. Gockman, a 33-year-old Sheboygan woman who died early Saturday morning, police said. A criminal complaint said Tenpas brought methadone to at a home in the 2300 block of South 15th Street after she and Gockman, who were friends, talked about getting high.

Tenpas gave Gockman 60 mg of methadone — a narcotic drug used to treat withdrawal and dependence on heroin — and Gockman ingested some by using a syringe and some by mixing it with water, the complaint said. Tenpas told police she had also provided Gockman with methadone in the past, but the woman typically took a dosage of about 40 mg, the complaint said.

Methadone acts on opioid receptors in the brain, similar to heroin, and can produce many of the same effects, experts say. The complaint said Tenpas was previously on a methadone program but had quit a year ago.

Tenpas is charged under a criminal statute commonly referred to as the Len Bias law, named for a former Maryland basketball star who died of a cocaine overdose in 1986. It was passed in Wisconsin in 1989, but DeCecco said this is believed to be the first time it has been used in Sheboygan County.

“What you usually get (in fatal drug overdose cases) is no one talks about anything,” DeCecco said. “You don’t get the kind of evidence we have in this case. … We do have drug deaths in this county, but we can’t connect them up to anything.”

Richard Hahn, Tenpas’ attorney, said it is “unfair” to hold her accountable in her friend’s death.

“We all make our own decisions, and to hold someone responsible for your ingesting a controlled substance, I think, is very inequitable and unfortunate,” he said.

But DeCecco said the situation falls within the purview of the Len Bias law.

“The law says very clearly that if someone provides a controlled substance to someone who dies as a result of that, they are guilty of first-degree reckless homicide,” DeCecco said. “It’s a very clear law; it’s unambiguous.”

Tenpas told police Gockman passed out on the home’s front porch and then went in and out of consciousness as her lips turned purple, the complaint said. Tenpas called a friend, who came to the house and called 911 after seeing Gockman lying on the floor.

Emergency personnel arrived at the home about 8 p.m., and Gockman died at Aurora Sheboygan Memorial Medical Center at 3:30 a.m. after her family took her off life support, the complaint said.

Gockman, of 4221 S. 13th St., is a native of Naperville, Ill., who attended Sheboygan South High School, according to her obituary.

Court Commissioner Rebecca Persick ordered Tenpas held on a $75,000 cash bond.

“Someone is dead as an alleged result of her actions,” Persick said. “I’m very concerned about public safety in this case.”

Hahn said Tenpas does not have the money to post bond, adding she is unemployed and has a learning disability.