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HOLLIDAYSBURG -- An Altoona man sentenced to five to 10 years' incarceration for drug delivery resulting in death may have the option of participating in the state Drug Treatment Program, as requested by the mother of a fatal overdose victim.
Calvin W. Ward, 56, rendered guilty pleas Thursday to several drug-related offenses, including ones filed in the March 4, 2022, overdose death of 42-year-old Kevin Loughney found inside an apartment on the 1200 block of 14th Avenue.
Ward, who stood before Judge Jackie Bernard to enter guilty pleas and be sentenced, said he didn't know Loughney. But Ward acknowledged that he was using and selling drugs to support his heroin addiction.
"I need help, your honor," Ward said.
Bernard told Ward that a decision on his entry to the state Drug Treatment Program will rest with the state Department of Corrections.
District Attorney Pete Weeks said he proposed Ward's mitigated range sentence of five- to 10-years' incarceration so he could be considered for the program at Linda Loughney's request. A longer sentence would have excluded him being considered for the state program.
"The decedent's mother wanted drug treatment for all involved," Weeks said.
Ward's negotiated sentence, as Bernard imposed, also includes 10 years' probation to follow his release from incarceration or from the drug treatment program.
Defense attorney Richard Corcoran, who represented Ward, told the judge that his client was accepting responsibility for his actions.
Criminal charges filed by Altoona police indicate that Ward, along with David McCool and Nicole Robinson, were arranging drug sales with Loughney who died of a multi-drug overdose. The drugs involved were methamphetamine, fentanyl, xylazine and mitragynine, with combinations that could have been misrepresented as heroin, Weeks said.
Charges against McCool and Robinson, which also include drug delivery resulting in death, are still pending.
Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 814-946-7456.