DuPage County State’s Attorney Joe Birkett announced that Marvin Howard, 42 (d.o.b. 10/05/61) of 1454 Oxford in Carol Stream was sentenced today to ten (10) years in prison for his role in the June 16, 2003 heroin overdose death of Thomas Szpak, age 15, of Carol Stream. Last month, Howard pleaded guilty to Drug Induced Homicide, a Class X felony, for both providing the drugs for Szpak and instructing him on how to ingest it. It was the victim’s first and only experience with the drug, which resulted in his death. With the approval of State’s Attorney Birkett, the State agreed to seek a maximum sentence of fifteen (15) years in prison upon the defendant’s plea of guilty. If this case had proceeded to trial, Howard would have faced a possible sentence of up to 30 years in prison. At the conclusion of today’s sentencing hearing, which included a victim impact statement by Thomas Szpak’s mother, Eva Szpak, Judge Ann Jorgensen sentenced Howard to ten years in prison. This law, Drug Induced Homicide, had been proposed and lobbied for by State’s Attorney Birkett, and this was the first time in DuPage County that a sentence had been imposed as a result of its violation.
"This incident is exactly the type of case that this amendment in the law was designed to address," State’s Attorney Birkett declared. "Dealers or persons who provide drugs are now held accountable when those drugs result in a person’s death. Those who provide these drugs, especially to first-time users as was the case in this incident, will now be made to suffer the consequences for their actions."
The tragic facts of this case revealed that the victim and two (2) of his friends went into Chicago with Howard on the night of June 15, 2003 in order to purchase heroin. The three teenage boys had never tried heroin in the past, but knew that the 41 year old Howard was an experienced drug user and would know where to purchase it. Howard directed the teenagers to an area in the city of Chicago where he found a supplier and purchased four (4) bags of heroin, which was divided among the teenagers and himself. Howard personally showed the victim how to ingest the heroin, and then personally instructed Szpak to only do half the bag because it was his first time.
After returning to Carol Stream Szpak ingested additional heroin from the purchase which was provided to him by Howard’s co-defendant and Szpak’s best friend, Joshua Pharr. Szpak fell asleep in Pharr’s bedroom at his home in Carol Stream, and the following morning police were called to that home when the 15 year old victim was discovered unconscious and not breathing. Szpak was pronounced dead by paramedics at 7:04 a.m. and the autopsy later revealed that the death was caused by heroin overdose.
Howard’s co-defendants Joshua Pharr, 18, and Richard Westerman, 17, both of Carol Stream, previously entered pleas of guilty to Delivery of a Controlled Substance and are serving County Jail sentences as a condition of probation. Howard pleaded guilty last month and was sentenced today.
"The defendant here put all the balls in motion in this case: he directed the teenagers to a place in Chicago where they could get the drugs; he purchased the 4 bags of heroin and divided it; and then he personally instructed the victim on how to ingest it," State’s Attorney Birkett noted. "The Szpak Family is without its son and brother as a result of this defendant’s actions, and now he will suffer the consequences."
State’s Attorney Birkett praised the outstanding work of the Carol Stream Police Department and Fire Department paramedics as well as DuPage County Coroner Richard Ballinger and his staff. Birkett also praised Assistant State’s Attorneys Joe Ruggiero and Josh Dieden for their tireless efforts in making sure justice was done in this case.
"This defendant was responsible for Thomas Szpak’s very first experience with drugs, and his very last experience with drugs," Birkett added. "For those who reason that ‘it’s only my first time,’ and that ‘my first time won’t kill me,’ I hope they think about Thomas Szpak. Any amount of drugs can be fatal, and unfortunately, Thomas’s curiosity coupled with this defendant’s willingness to provide him with heroin, yielded deadly consequences."
