An Atlantic City woman was sentenced to 216 months in federal prison Thursday, in a drug case that started with an overdose death.
Jeffrey Giannini, 30, was found unresponsive June 1, 2018, in a car parked in the McDonald’s parking lot on Arkansas Avenue.
He died of an overdose. Next to him were bags that tested positive for heroin and fentanyl.
Video surveillance from about two hours earlier showed Giannini being sold drugs by Curry, according to the charges.
Curry, then 29, already had pending drug charges at the time.
Those were transferred to federal court months after she was arrested in Giannini’s death.
Hers was the first Atlantic County case charged under strict liability to also go to federal court.
While the sentencing wasn’t for Giannini’s death, his sister said she felt some peace with it.
“I feel like I do have a type of closure now,” Danielle Giannini said. “And I hope that (Curry) can spread awareness to others about the dangers of selling heroin.”
The judge is recommending that the that Curry be considered for the Bureau of Prisons’ 500-hour intensive drug-treatment program. If she is accepted and completes the program successfully, she can get some Earned Time Credit against her sentence, a spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office told BreakingAC.
Her drug history dates to 2008, and includes convictions of manufacturing, distributing, dispensing and possessing a controlled dangerous substance.
Officers searched Curry’s residence Jan. 17, 2018, and found heroin stamped with “DOA” and “BODY COUNT,” which Curry intended to distribute to her customers in Atlantic City, according to the charges.
She conspired with Newark suppliers to distribute their product in Atlantic County, the jury found.
In addition to the prison term, the judge sentenced Curry to three years of supervised release.
