PORT ANGELES — David A. Cole was sentenced to 20 months in prison after being convicted of selling heroin to his girlfriend, the Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney’s office announced.
Cole, 61, of Port Angeles, was convicted of one count of delivery of a controlled substance Wednesday in a stipulated fact trial in Clallam County Superior Court.
The Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team said Cole purchased drugs for his girlfriend and bought a quarter ounce of heroin for her prior to his arrest Jan. 11, court paper said.
Cole told detectives that the woman frequently missed her vein while trying to inject heroin, causing the syringe to partially fill with blood, court papers said.
“He stated when she misses and the syringe fills with blood she won’t use it,” OPNET Detective Jeff Pickrell said in the probable cause affidavit.
“He stated she then sells the loaded syringes [with her blood and heroin in them] to a male named Frank for a reduced price.”
Cole, who had been remanded from Clallam County Drug Court, faced a standard sentencing range of 12 months to 20 months for his most recent drug conviction.
Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Kennedy requested a 20-month sentence and one year’s probation for Cole because it was his second conviction for selling drugs and “because of the elevated danger Cole’s conduct posed to the community,” prosecutors said in a news release.
Defense attorney Alex Stalker requested a residential-based Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, or DOSA, for Cole, court papers said.
Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly determined that Cole was not a good candidate for DOSA and sentenced him to the high end of the range based on the “threat that he posed to the community,” Kennedy said.
Cole also was ordered to pay a $500 victim assessment, $200 in court costs and a $100 DNA collection fee, Kennedy said.
He was being held Tuesday at the Washington Corrections Center near Shelton.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
