Pubdate: Fri, 28 Mar 2003
Source: Capital Times, The  (WI)
Copyright: 2003 The Capital Times
Contact:  http://www.captimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/73
Author: Kevin Murphy

MAN GETS A YEAR IN DRUG DEATH

A Madison man who helped obtained the fatal dose of heroin taken by a man 
who died last summer in a limousine was given a year in jail and placed on 
four years' probation Thursday.

Reginald Hill, 24, the first person in years to be prosecuted in Dane 
County under the "Len Bias" law, had pleaded no contest to first-degree 
reckless homicide in the death on June 7 of Christopher Gilmore, 34, of 
Madison.

Hill had faced maximum penalties of 60 years in prison but Dane County 
Circuit Judge Patrick Fielder cited Hill's minor role in the offense and 
agreeing to testify against his co-defendants in accepting the sentencing 
recommendation by Assistant District Attorney Kenneth Farmer and Hill's 
attorney Paul Schwartz.

Hill, diagnosed with cerebral palsy, did not have the sophistication to 
deal drugs at a higher level, said Fielder, which limited his involvement 
in Gilmore's death but also made him easily influenced by others, including 
co-defendants Laura R. Phillips and David Hill, who is Hill's cousin.

Fielder said Hill's pending marijuana possession charge in Dane County and 
a marijuana possession conviction in Missouri meant Hill would go to prison 
if he is convicted again.

According to the complaint, Hill had Phillips contact his cousin to get 
heroin for Gilmore. Hill allegedly sold Phillips, 38, heroin valued at $75 
and Phillips allegedly help inject the heroin into Gilmore. Phillips then 
left Gilmore in the back of a limousine owned by James Benson, a relative 
of Gilmore. When Benson returned to the limousine, he noticed Gilmore was 
not breathing and took him to a fire station on Cottage Grove Road, where 
paramedics found he was dead.

David Hill, 25 and Phillips, 38, remain at large. Farmer said after court 
that he would seek longer sentences for them if they are found and convicted.

The "Len Bias" law, named after a University of Maryland athlete who died 
of a cocaine overdose, allows authorities to bring homicide charges against 
those who supply drugs that cause a death.
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