Brendon Brown will spend the next 6½-15 years of his life in state prison for selling a fatal dose of fentanyl to someone he once said was “like a brother” to him.
Schuylkill County Judge Christina Hale imposed that sentence on Brown during a hearing in Courtroom 5 on Friday afternoon. Prior to sentencing, Brown entered a guilty plea on one count of Drug Delivery Resulting in Death, a first-degree felony.
Brown faced a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison had he gone to trial and not agreed to a plea deal arranged by the Schuylkill County District Attorney’s Office. Charges of possession with intent to deliver, use or possession of drug paraphernalia and criminal use of a communications device were all dismissed to reach the plea agreement.
Brown sold a fatal dose of acetylfentanyl and fentanyl to Derreck Forker, of Mahanoy City, back on the morning of March 30, 2024. Forker was found on the floor of his home later that morning by his mother, Deborah Forker.
Police searched Forker’s phone and discovered a text exchange between he and Brown, arranging to purchase the drugs. Brown warned Forker about the potency of the drugs he was selling Forker that morning. After he sold him the drugs, Brown tried placing audio calls via Facebook Messenger supposedly to check on Forker.
Brown was arrested on June 26, 2024, and remanded to Schuylkill County Prison, where he’s remained since that day.
On Friday, Forker’s fiance, Lacey Coleman, and mother testified prior to Hale imposing the sentence on Brown.
Coleman said she was at an Easter egg hunt with their two children, ages 2 and 3, the morning she learned of Forker’s death. Among the many feelings she’s still experiencing, the one she can’t get past is anger.
“You were supposed to be his friend,” Coleman said to Brown. “I don’t understand how you thought it was OK to do that. I can’t even look at you.
“When I heard it was you, I was suprised,” she added.
Forker previously suffered life-altering injuries in a vehicle crash prior to this fateful day last year. He, according to testimony during Friday’s hearing, had the mental capacity of a 10-year-old.
“He fought has a** off to come out of a coma,” Coleman said. “All that was taken away. I never thought my kids were going to have to grow up without a dad. My heart hurts every day for my kids.”
Despite her anger, Coleman hoped for something positive for Brown.
“I hope whenever you get out, you stay on the right path,” she said.
Forker’s mother shared a similar thought during her testimony. She appeared remotely at Friday’s hearing, saying she was in Ohio to help her youngest son as he battles brain cancer.
“My son was my life. He was everything to me,” she said.
Addressing Brown directly, Forker said, “I know you intended nothing bad that day. I know you loved Derreck and Derreck loved you. You were like a son to me.”
Despite that, Forker said she has to “let go of this hate” that she said she’s feeling toward Brown.
“You made a poor decision that day. You have to live with that now,” Forker said. “Take this time and turn your life around.”
As Forker was concluding her testimony, Brown clearly got emotional in the courtroom, audibly sobbing. He said, “I just want to say I’m sorry,” looking at the video screen and turning to address Coleman.
“It kills me. I have to live with this every day,” he said.
Hale told Forker and Coleman, “The family members have the court’s deepest sympathies and condolences.”
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