Man gets prison in connection with EC drug overdose death
Mar. 1—EAU CLAIRE — A Chetek man will spend six years in prison in connection with a case where another man died of a drug overdose.
Cody F. Ormond, 32, was sentenced Monday in Eau Claire County Court to an amended felony count of heroin delivery. He was originally charged with a felony count of first-degree reckless homicide.
Judge Emily Long ordered Ormond to spend five years on extended supervision following his release from prison.
As conditions of probation, Ormond must pay $2,331 in restitution.
He also cannot drink alcohol, have contact with known drug dealers or users, or have contact with the victim's family without consent.
According to the criminal complaint:
Eau Claire police were sent to Regency Inn & Suites, 1828 S. Hastings Way, at 2 p.m. Dec. 17, 2017, concerning an overdose death. Hotel staff reported that a man had been found dead in a room. He was found with his head close to the wall and a chair along the east wall of the room. He was lying face down.
Police and EMS personnel examined the man's body. No signs of trauma were found on the man's body.
Officers identified the man based on his driver's license, which was on a desk in the room. Other items on the desk included a knife, tweezers, pliers and a pair of forceps. There was also what appeared to be residue from a drug.
Hotel staff said they last saw the man at 6 p.m. the previous evening.
After searching the room, officers found an informational pamphlet for the overdose antidote Narcan, several empty beverage bottles, three balloons, several new vials of Narcan and large individually-packaged syringes.
Officers met with the man's girlfriend later that day. She said she had been trying unsuccessfully to get him clean from drugs. The woman indicated she last spoke to the man around 9 p.m. the previous day, at which time he did not sound intoxicated and did not mention having drugs.
The woman said the man had a history of using heroin and would inject the drugs he was using.
The man's body had multiple injection sites on his left arm. One site seemed fresh and had fluid running from it. Authorities examined the man's home the following month and found a series of Facebook communications during the month of December 2017 between the man and Ormond.
Based on the communications, authorities determined the man likely obtained drugs from Ormond.
The man's cause of death was determined to be probable asphyxiation due to drug overdose. Morphine, a metabolite of heroin, was found in his blood.
Ormond, who declined to speak with police, was free on bond for an ongoing 2016 felony case in Eau Claire County.
Ormond was prosecuted as a repeat offender. He was convicted of a felony count of possession of methamphetamine in August 2017 in Barron County.
