A Cuyahoga Falls mother doesn’t want her son to be known as an addict or a murderer.
Nancy Mariola says Brock Richardson also is a victim of the heroin epidemic, though he is still alive while a man he gave drugs to isn’t.
“There’s a story behind these people,” Mariola said of her son, who had struggled for many years with drug addiction. “Some never turn their lives around.”
“That’s my child,” she continued. “I don’t want him to be an inmate number. I don’t want him to be known as ‘Brock Richardson sentenced for involuntary manslaughter.’”
Mariola shared her thoughts Wednesday after Richardson was sentenced to five years in prison.
Richardson, 26, of Akron, pleaded guilty last week to involuntary manslaughter and corrupting another with drugs.
Summit County Common Pleas Court Judge Mary Margaret Rowlands sentenced him to three years on the involuntary manslaughter charge and two years on the corrupting another with drugs charge. He will be eligible for judicial release after serving two and a half years.
Prosecutors say Richardson gave Jacob Dolfi, 21, of Akron, fentanyl on Feb. 20, 2016. Dolfi went home, took the drugs, overdosed and died.
Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller often mixed with heroin. People taking heroin often don’t know if they are using heroin, fentanyl or a combination.
Walter Madison, Richardson’s attorney, said his client wasn’t selling drugs for his own gain.
“He was just as much an addict as the deceased gentleman was,” Madison said. “He got caught middle-manning a deal to support his addiction.”
Prosecutors say Dolfi’s family is very upset about his death and decided not to attend the sentencing because it was too emotional for them. The family was, however, in agreement on the resolution and sentence.
Richardson apologized before his sentencing to the Dolfi family.
Mariola said she also had planned to apologize to the family.
“We wanted to let the family know how sorry we are for them, not how sorry we are for us,” she said. “My son has an opportunity for a future.”
Mariola, the mother of four sons, said the family can sympathize with the Dolfi family, not only because of Richardson’s struggles, but also because 27 friends of her oldest two boys have died of drug overdoses.
Mariola, though, is confident Richardson will be able to turn his life around.
“He got in too deep over his head,” she said. “It’s just a horrible situation. Nobody wins here. That family doesn’t win. They lost a child. We don’t win.”
Mariola said the family wants to turn a negative into a positive by continuing an annual tradition of providing blessing bags at St. Bernard’s Catholic Church and assistance at Christmas for the families of people in rehab. This year, they will do this in Jacob Dolfi’s name.
Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at 330-996-3705, swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj .