'I will forgive you, but you must pay,' father of woman who OD'd tells Greensburg man who supplied drugs

Nov. 5—Nearly five years have not erased the pain Rachael Tantlinger's parents and brother feel as a result of her drug overdose death.

Sometimes, it's physically debilitating, said father, Chris Tantlinger. For mother Valerie Tantlinger, the raw emotion was still evident Friday in court testimony.

Both directly addressed the man who police said provided Rachael, 22, with the fatal dose.

"You have not paid the price for Rachael's life, a life that you so recklessly took," Valerie Tantlinger said to Anthony Varriano, 37.

"I will not judge and I will forgive you, but you must pay," Chris Tantlinger said.

Varriano of Greensburg was sentenced to one to eight years in a state prison on a drug delivery resulting in death charge. Authorities said he provided a stamp bag that contained a high amount of deadly opioid fentanyl to Rachael Tantlinger on Jan. 21, 2017. She was found dead the next day at her Greensburg home.

Police found empty stamp bags there and text messages on her cellphone that led them to Varriano.

Rachael's parents described her as an empathetic, intelligent, lively person who struggled with drug addiction. She had been released from rehabilitation about a month before her death.

Rachael Tantlinger was well known for community activities in the Ligonier area, where she grew up. She participated in fundraisers for Ligonier Volunteer Hose Company No. 1, Ligonier Rotary Club, Miss Ligonier Pageant, Ligonier YMCA and the American Cancer Society Relay for Life.

She also had worked as Snow White at Storybook Forest in Idlewild Park.

"Your choice that you made has had such a devastating impact," Chris Tantlinger told Varriano.

Judge Christopher Feliciani wrestled with how to balance a sentence that acknowledges both steps Varriano has taken to stay clean and the trauma to the Tantlinger family. He said he believes the state legislature intended the drug delivery resulting in death statute to prosecute large-scale dealers, not those like Varriano who peddle drugs to support their own habit.

"The person who really should be sitting in that chair is the big dealer," he said.

In 2011, lawmakers amended the statute to eliminate the requirement that prosecutors prove a drug supplier intended for the user to die. The charge can be prosecuted as a third-degree homicide, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 to 40 years in prison.

Varriano was ordered to pay $10,000 in restitution and perform 200 hours of community service in a drug education-related context.

"I just pray that you make something as positive as possible for your involvement in this family's tragedy," Feliciani said.

Varriano apologized to the Tantlinger family before being sentenced. He said he was unaware Rachael was clean when he dropped the drugs off to her.

"The addiction had such a hold on me at the time, it make me do things I didn't want to do," he said.

He hopes to make a difference in her memory by participating in education and awareness about drug addiction.

"In the past five years, all I've ever wanted to do is say sorry," he said. "I wish we had never picked up the drugs for Rachael... . Rachael wasn't just a using buddy, she was a friend of mine and a really good person."

Renatta Signorini is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Renatta at 724-837-5374, rsignorini@triblive.com or via Twitter .