Campbell Co. man acquitted in brother’s murder

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A Campbell Co. judge sentenced Kevin Shorter to 10 years in prison for selling the methadone that his brother overdosed on

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By Chris Dumond
Lynchburg News & Advance
Published: May 21, 2008

RUSTBURG — A Gladys man charged in the drug-overdose death of his cousin was acquitted of murder Tuesday.

However, Kevin Ryan Shorter, 24, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling the methadone.

“I don’t have a thought in my head that you intended to kill your cousin ...,” Judge Samuel Johnston told Shorter. “If you’re selling methadone and somebody dies, you’re going to be punished.”

Shorter pleaded guilty in September to selling Jeremy Rogers seven methadone pills on Dec. 4, 2006, the night before his girlfriend found him dead in bed beside her.

His cause of death was ruled a methadone overdose, but at Shorter’s January trial, Julia Pearson, a state forensic toxicologist, testified the seven pills could not account for the amount of drugs in Rogers’ system.

Shorter’s lawyer, Joseph Sanzone, argued Tuesday that Virginia’s felony murder law only allows people to be charged if a death occurs in the course of a felony crime. Sanzone said the felony in this case, the drug sale, happened hours before Rogers died.

While he did not convict Shorter of murder, the judge did substantially exceed state sentencing guidelines for the drug-sale charge.

Commonwealth’s Attorney Neil Vener said guidelines called for a maximum sentence of one year and four months.

Johnston actually sentenced Shorter to 15 years with five years suspended. He also ordered that if Shorter tests positive for drugs after he is released from prison, he immediately would be arrested for probation violation.

Doug and Jan Rogers, Jeremy Rogers’ parents, released a short written statement after the hearing.

“We miss Jeremy very much,” the statement read. “A large part of our life is gone. We wish Ryan Shorter the best as he tries to put his life together.”

Pearson, the forensic toxicologist, said methadone is the leading killer in Virginia drug overdoses. In 2003 and 2004, she said, the state averaged about 300 methadone-related deaths per year.