An Austin woman who sold fentanyl to two people who later overdosed was sentenced Thursday to more than nine years in prison.
Yashica Shenay Thomas, 44, pleaded guilty in January to third-degree murder charges in separate cases in a plea deal that set concurrent sentences. She received 110 months in one case and 86 months in the other to be served at the women's prison in Shakopee. Thomas will receive credit for 191 days served.
Felony second-degree manslaughter, drug possession and drug sales charges were dropped.
Thomas was charged in September in the March 2022 death of a 22-year-old Austin man who was found by his mother and siblings slumped in a bathroom. According to court records, an autopsy showed the man died from the acute toxic effects of fentanyl.
The Mower County Attorney's Office filed similar charges in January after investigating the death in May of a 22-year-old woman, who also was found in her home's bathroom.
Police found messages to Thomas about fentanyl sales on both victims' phones, court records show.
Austin police searched Thomas' apartment in late August and seized more than 300 grams of marijuana, 17 grams of methamphetamine and tinfoil folds believed to be used to hold fentanyl, according to charges that also listed other drug paraphernalia, including a digital scale.
Thomas told police she sold fentanyl to both victims, according to court records. The man bought a small amount of fentanyl for $50, and the woman bought .7 grams for $40.
