A Fond du Lac man has been sentenced for a 2017 fentanyl overdose death.
38-year-old Shane R. Billington will spend seven years in prison and nine years on extended supervision on a charge of second-degree reckless homicide after the victim used fentanyl strips and overdosed on his birthday.
Eight years ago, Fond du Lac Police were called to a motel on S. Pioneer Road just before 6:00 a.m. and found the victim dead in the passenger seat of the car.
Billington told police that he and his friends were at a bar, and he saw the victim slurring his words and took him to the car.
The 38-year-old then finished a game of darts before driving back to the motel.
When the man stopped breathing, Billington said he called 911. He was later taken into custody for a warrant.
It wasn’t until 2022 that someone related to the victim sent a poem by Billington to the Fond du Lac Police, prompting the case to be reopened.
A person who knew Billington admitted that he was a middleman for a drug dealer who supplied the victim with fentanyl.
In 2023, Fond du Lac detectives found that a phone call was made to the dealer by the suspect.
The fentanyl purchased was then given to the victim.
Fond du Lac County District Attorney Eric Toney calls this case “too common and must never be accepted as normal.”
He finishes saying, “A fraction of these overdose deaths make it to court for a sentencing, and when they do, it’s crucial for courts to hold defendants accountable, to serve as a deterrent because it will save lives.”
