Pubdate: Thu, 19 Jul 2007
Source: Union Leader (Manchester, NH)
Copyright: 2007 The Union Leader Corp.
Contact:  http://www.theunionleader.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/761
Note: Out-of-state e-mail letters are seldom published.
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/heroin.htm (Heroin)
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?132 (Heroin Overdose)

SILVA GETS LIFE IN PRISON FOR GIRLFRIEND'S HEROIN OVERDOSE

BRENTWOOD - A judge sentenced Dante Silva, convicted of giving his 
girlfriend a fatal dose of heroin, to life in prison this morning.

The case represents one of the first times that a person has been 
convicted and sentenced under the state's dispensing a controlled 
substance with death resulting law, and prosecutors called the 
sentence "historic." The judge said an aggravating factor was that 
after he provided 18-year old Kingston resident Caitlyn Brady with 
the fatal dose of heroin, he gathered all evidence and left to 
dispose of it and never tried to get her any help.

If he has no problems in prison, Silva will first be eligible for 
parole after ten years, but even if he leaves prison, will remain 
under supervision his entire life. The maximum Silva could have 
received was life in prison, with no possibility of parole for 18 years.

After the hearing the family of Brady celebrated.

"All week long I've been on edge," she said afterwards. "Hopefully 
today I can go home and mourn Caitlyn." Silva's attorney, Mark Sisti, 
said he plans to appeal the case as well as the sentence.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman